


Dual Racing Aerial Grand prix Neural Units

by uofmdragon



Series: CC Trope Bingo [13]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dragons, Alternate Universe - Mechs, Alternate Universe - Racing, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Clint Barton & Natasha Romanov Friendship, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Minor Steve Rogers/Sam Wilson, Natasha Romanov and Clint Barton are Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-23
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:42:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 40,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26607685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/uofmdragon/pseuds/uofmdragon
Summary: Good Evening Race Fans!  Breaking News out of Shield Racing today.  They've just lost their only soulmated pilots to an unfortunate accident. Reports say that Barnes will never be fit to fly with his soulmate Rogers in a DRAGN again. Rumors abound that Fury is sending out his "one good eye" to look for a new pair of soulmates to take over!In other new team, Iron HawkSpider is making a name for themselves at the district races in Uther. Pilots Barton and Romanoff are by all reports to be a stellar combination.  Where did these two even come from?
Relationships: Clint Barton/Phil Coulson
Series: CC Trope Bingo [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1490282
Comments: 76
Kudos: 71





	1. The Pilots

**Author's Note:**

> Written for CC-Bingo: Soulbond  
> AU: Dragons  
> AU: Racing
> 
> Beta by lapilus and mnementh 
> 
>   
> I didn't use the archive tags, but this fic does reference rape/non-con. It is not graphic, but characters are at risk for it and chose to do something about it.
> 
> This fic is completed and will be posted over the next couple of weeks.

_"Come on," Clint said, scrambling through the alleys. "We're going to miss them!"_

_"Clint!" Barney called after him. "We're supposed to stick together!"_

_Clint ignored him, too excited to dare stop. If he stopped, then he'd miss those brief seconds when dragons flew over them. He made it to the end of the alley and scrambled on top of the dumpster, took a running leap to grab the ladder, and clambered up. The fire escape was an easy climb and soon he was on the roof, searching the skies._

_"Clint!" Barney barked._

_He glanced at him seeing that Barney had made it to the roof, before turning his eyes skyward again._

_"I don't see why we had to climb up here," Barney groused. "It's not worth the effort."_

_The rant was familiar and Clint mostly tuned him out. Barney didn't see the worth of catching glimpses of dragons, but Clint did. Clint was going to fly one someday with his soulmate. He didn't dare say that in front of anyone in his family. His brother would roll his eyes, his mom's smile would grow sad, and his father would laugh at him and call him stupid for dreaming of such things._

_"Barney, look!" Clint said, catching the sunlight gleam off of metal. He pointed in that direction and before he could blink the dragons roared by._

_"Fury and Danvers are in the lead!" Clint shouted recognizing the red, blue, and yellow of the Marvel Dragon. He jumped up, cheering for his favorite duo. He looked back at Barney and smiled at him._

_Barney sighed. "C'mon, we better go before someone gets upset we're on their roof."_

_Clint watched where the dragons had disappeared and nodded. As much as he wanted them to, they wouldn't be back not until the next race flew over Nuban, which wouldn't be until next year's World Grand Prix._

*

_"C'mon," Barney said, gesturing to Clint. Clint looked back towards the Imps race. They were similar to Dragons, but didn't have the speed or ability to go the distances. They were local, mostly looping around a fair or other gathering rather than stretching across a country, continent, or even the world. They still required two people to operate, so it was a way to build skills for Dragons. "Clint, there's someone I want you to meet."_

_Clint resisted watching as one of the racers took a far enough lead. It was clear they were going to win. Sighing, Clint turned and followed after Barney, eyes on the ground searching for the footsteps of his soulmate. They were supposed to look a different color, but all he saw was the well traveled path of the fair goers._

_"Where are we going?" Clint asked, wondering if Barney had a scheme to get them some food or some money._

_Barney didn't look back. "You'll see."_

_Clint frowned. The other boy was quiet and was working his way through the crowd. He wasn't even pickpocketing! Which was basically how they were able to afford food, since their parents had died. Technically, they should have been at the Nuban State Home, but it wasn't like either of them were going to be chosen by a new family, so they would have been taught a "trade."_

_Clint took the opportunity to pick a few pockets, because Barney liked to say that Clint wasn't pulling his own weight when it came to pocketing money. He stopped as he realized they were headed into the racers' camp. Each racer had a tent made of cloth, which contained living quarters and a garage for their IMP._

_"Barney?" Clint asked, because really, they were going here? Clint avoided the area, because he knew he'd be too distracted to do his job properly._

_"I found you an internship," Barney stated._

_"Really?" Clint asked._

_"Really," Barney replied, stopping outside a tent. "Trick?"_

_The flap opened and an older gentleman stepped out. He glanced at Barney, before focusing on Clint. "This the kid?"_

_"Yeah," Barney said. "Crazy about racers."_

_"I'm going to fly a dragon one day," Clint said, trying to sound confident. He glanced down toward Trick's feet, but there was no change in color as he shifted his feet. He cast a nervous look at Barney._

_"Of course, you are," Trick said._

_"Can I talk to you?" Clint asked, looking at Barney._

_Barney hesitated, looking at Trick, who gave a little wave. They moved away with Barney scowling at him. "I thought you wanted this!"_

_"He's not my soulmate," Clint said._

_"It doesn't matter, it's an IMP race. You don't have to have great compatibility. You can learn to drive on of those stupid machines that you love."_

_"But…" Clint started._

_"Do you want to drive or not?!" Barney asked._

_"I do!" Clint started. "But what about you?!_

_"Clint," Barney said. "This isn't working. I can take care of myself a lot easier than I can take care of both of us. Trick is willing to take care of you, train you, and give you a chance to fly a DRAGN. I know this isn't quite your dream, but it's the best I can do"_

_Clint sighed and nodded. "Okay."_

_"Okay?"_

_"I'm going to miss you," Clint said._

_Barney shrugged. "Well, I'm sure our paths will cross again."_

_Clint hesitated and then threw his arms around Barney in a quick hug. He pulled back and shoved a few wallets at Barney. "I nicked 'em on our way over here."_

_"You're a good kid, you're going to be a great racer," Barney said, rubbing the top of his head. "Good luck."_

_"Thanks, Barney," Clint said, heading over to Trick. "I'm Clint."_

_"Nice to meet you," Trick said, giving him a calm smile. "You ready to start learning how to pilot?"_

_Clint nodded, glancing back to find that Barney had already disappeared._

*

Phil paced outside the room where Melinda was talking to Nick. Something was wrong, he knew it. He'd felt it in the merge with Melinda during the last race. Waiting was the worst, Phil decided. 

Three years of flying DRAGN Units with Melinda and there was something that she didn't feel comfortable talking about with him. Had it been the crash? Watching Felix and Jasper go down like that had been horrible and Felix was still in the hospital. Was it Andrew, Melinda's soulmate? No, he'd been supportive of Melinda being a DRAGN pilot, even if he had no desire to get in. 

Phil couldn't understand that line of thought, flying a DRAGN Unit was perfection. Phil looked over at their DRAGN Unit, the Dark Agent. DRAGN Units or Dual Racing Ariel Grand Prix Neural Units were high-tech mechs that required the use of two drivers to work all systems to fly. There were many that referred to them simply as Dragons, because they resembled the creatures. The same with the PIX-E and Pixie. They were dangerous and glorious and Phil couldn't imagine doing anything else. The only problem was… merging was easier for soulmates. If you knew your soulmate, it was rare that you weren't drift compatible. For non-soulmates, it was a struggle to find a partner that you were compatible with and Phil had been through a lot. Melinda was the best, they'd even had some victories in the World Prix. Not enough to take home the World Championship, but enough to be considered successful.

The door opened and Phil glanced behind him to see Melinda.

"Everything okay?" Phil asked.

Melinda nodded. "We need to talk though."

"Okay," Phil said. "What…?"

Melinda took a seat on the gangplank overlooking Dark Agent and Phil dropped down next to her. She leaned on the bar, not looking at him. "I hate to do this to you."

"Melinda?" Phil said, looking at her.

"I love flying, but crashing…"

"Scares the hell out of all of us," Phil finished, because it did.

"Yeah," Melinda said.

"Is that what’s bothering you? I know something is different. I can tell with the link…"

"I'm pregnant."

"Oh," Phil said, nodding because that made sense and then he realized just what that meant. "Oh."

"I'm sorry," Melinda said, looking at him.

"Congratulations," Phil said. "I'm... happy for you."

"And utterly crushed that your partner is leaving," Melinda added.

Phil nodded, looking over Dark Agent. "Yeah, there's that too, but I can find another partner."

"Maybe your soulmate?" Melinda replied.

"Maybe," Phil agreed, but he rather doubted it. He didn't talk about it, but he'd seen footprints once and even followed them in hopes of tracking his soulmate. They'd run into a house that had been sealed with crime tape and he hadn't found any footprints leading out of the building. He was certain that whoever his soulmate was had passed on from this life. He didn't tell people and most just assumed he had never found them and technically he never had.

She elbowed him. "I'm sure you will. Just give it time."

"Thanks," Phil said. "So… Andrew know?"

Melinda smiled and nodded. "Yeah, um, we're actually thinking of getting married. Just something small."

"Are you telling me or inviting me?" Phil asked.

"Inviting you, idiot," Melinda said. "I want you to be a bridesperson."

"I can do that," Phil agreed, smiling. He loved Melinda and he was genuinely happy for her, even while disappointed that he was going back into the search for a new compatible partner. Their friendship would survive in some form, of that he was sure, but everything was going to be very different.

*

Phil took a deep breath, leaning back into the chair. He wasn't sure that his partner was in the best mood or that this was the best time, but Steve had insisted stating that the plan was always to find a new partner as soon as possible. Apparently, Steve had discussed this with his soulmate, Bucky. Bucky, who was still in the hospital, still recovering from losing his arm in the latest DRAGN crash. Steve had a point though, if they could manage a good connection while he worried and upset, then it would only become stronger as his stress lessened.

"Going for a neural handshake," Maria's voice came over the comms. "Coulson?"

"I'm ready," Phil said.

"Same," Rogers’ voice came over the comms, sounding determined.

Phil glanced toward the wall that divided them because Shield Racing liked to conduct their compatibility tests with the people in separate rooms. Normally comms wouldn't be open, but Steve had requested that Phil be tested first. Years of working together with Phil as Spotter and Team Manager and Steve knew that Phil still yearned to be in a cockpit of the DRAGN. So, of course, Phil had been the first one that Steve had requested. Phil had done his duty and there were a few others to be tested as well that Phil thought might be compatible, but first…

"Initiating neural handshake," Maria said.

Phil entered, trying to be what Steve needed in the drift. The test was only ten minutes long, but it seemed to take forever and no time at all. Soon it was all over and Phil lifted the test helmet up and stood. 

"Maria?" Phil questioned.

"I have to run the other tests," Maria said, letting no emotion show in her voice. "Steve needs to make his decisions with all the data present."

"Right," Phil said, stepping out of the room. He headed down the hallway to see Nick escorting someone that Phil didn't recognize.

The unknown man nodded at him and entered the test room.

"He's not one of the candidates," Phil said, looking toward the closed room. Phil knew them all, because he chose them all.

"Maria added him. Steve's met her soulmate a couple of times, they get along well," Nick stated.

"That's Maria's soulmate?" Phil said. "I wasn't aware…"

"Steve actually introduced them, didn't realize it until they got up to leave."

"Can he..."

"Pilot? Yeah, he can, but his partner died a couple of years ago. Not in a mech though," Nick stated. 

Phil nodded and then looked at Nick. "I didn't know you were aware of the testing."

"You think I don't know everything that goes on with _my_ racing team," Fury asked. 

Phil nodded, because Fury did tend to know everything that went on with Shield racing. Mostly, because Phil told him, but he knew that Maria was another fount of information. Still, if Nick knew everything that was going on, then he might know Phil and Steve's score. "I don't suppose…"

Nick glanced away, before looking at him. "I'm sorry, Phil. Not even close."

Phil nodded. "I…"

"If Sam works out, Maria will take over as Team Manager and start training Barnes when he's recovered."

"What about me?"

Fury sighed. "I need you to find me a soulmate pair that can fly. We don't have any since Rumlow and Rollins jumped ship to Hydra."

"Have you…?"

"Yeah, I filed a complaint against them, but Pierce has pull with the organization. I doubt it'll go anywhere."

"Have to try," Phil said. "So when do I leave?"

"I'll give you a week, but I'd like you to leave tomorrow. Uthor has a big race the day after tomorrow."

"The National Circuit?"

"No, Uthor and the Mourlandic Empire have a Regional DRAGN Unit Circuit," Nick explained. "Wrogan does too, but right now it's horrible."

"Which means Darkia will have one in the next five years, even though it's not big enough."

"Their nationals are all back and forth."

"Hey, I could be sending you to the Mourian Continent with all their various multi-country races."

"Poor Gugh has to race against its fellows."

"Could be worse, could be Nuban," Fury pointed out. 

Phil snorted. "Does anything good come out of Nuban?"

"If you listen to Bhoman, nothing, and they wouldn't dream of taking them back in order to reunite the Ghaggul region."

Phil smiled. "So off to Uthor, I go."

*

_"You want to be a pilot, little one?" the man with the smelly breath said. "You can come drift with me."_

_Natasha ignored him, sticking close to Alexi and Yelena as they headed to where the Imps were lined up. Both her and Yelena were keeping an eye on the ground, because if either of them found their soulmate then they'd get to fly the Pixie that Alexi was working on. For now though, they flew the Imp to make some money and gain some piloting skills._

_The area around the startup was filled with racers getting into their IMPs and their crews. Most crews for IMPs were minimal, but some were able to have a large crew. Natasha paused noting the younger girl being lifted into one of the IMPs. Her partner was leering at her ass and much older._

_"Alexi," Natasha whispered, switching languages to her native Laupsian. "Look to your right."_

_Alexi glanced over and nodded. "I'll look into it."_

_He switched back to Caiu. "You ready?" Alexi asked as they came up to their machine._

_"Of course," Yelena said, helmet already on. She climbed in first and Natasha pulled her helmet on as she did so. Alexi leaned in to make sure she was settled and then Natasha climbed in after her._

_They settled in the machine, beginning the start up process. It wasn't too long, before it was time to drift._

_"Ready, sestra?" Yelena asked._

_"Ready," Natasha confirmed, carefully blanking her mind as the neural handshake was initiated. Alexi had trained both of them, ensuring that neither of them could dominate the other and cause Non Compatibility Sickness, a risk for both IMPs and PIX-Es. More commonly known as Ensy Sickness. Where DRAGNs had to have compatible drivers to fly, IMPs and PIX-Es did not have to. It made flying them easier, but it was possible for one pilot to dominate the other. It only happened in PIX-Es and IMPs for a number of reasons. The worst was, given enough time, enough races and the dominant personality could wipe out a weaker one. When that happened, well, if they had family they usually ended up in an institution. If they didn't… Well, unfortunately, whorehouses were littered with them._

_Yelena pushed a bit in the connection, dragging Natasha's attention to the race. Screens were lit and systems were a go. IMP races were the shortest of the three mech types. DRAGNs tended to go for hours, while the World Prix went for days. This race should be over in less than an hour, but it felt longer._

_The Merge had been described differently by many people but there seemed a variation on a few themes: easy as breathing, like walking on tightrope, or like pushing a boulder. Natasha felt like it was like running a race, except you had to be exactly in sync with your partner. It was hard work and maybe a soulmate would make things easier. That might be true in the mech, but outside she was certain it would make things much more complicated._

_Natasha concentrated on what Yelena was doing, focusing on her breathing as they engaged in the neural handshake. They fumbled for a bit, before establishing it and together they turned their attention to the race. When the signal came, they engaged engines and took off, steering their IMP around the others and towards the finish line. Every so often, Natasha would want to juke right, but Yelena tried to go left. The IMP jerked around them and Natasaha relented trying to right as Yelena now tried to go right._

_"Left," Natasha barked, getting them on track. It was too late, they bumped off another IMP and couldn't make it around the first. That was how the race went, multiple times, they couldn't decide on which way to go until the end. They were lucky to claim fourth out of the race. They brought their IMP to a stop and climbed back out. Alexi was waiting for them as they climbed._

_"Wanted to go different ways?" Alexi asked._

_Natasha nodded._

_Alexi sighed._

_An IMP came to a stop, a familiar one that reminded Natasha of earlier. "Did you…?"_

_Alexi nodded. "I think we will move on tonight."_

*

'Uthor was a worthless shitshow,' Phil typed up to send to Fury. He'd gone to multiple cities and found nothing. The Mourlandic Empire was slightly better, if only for the fact that Thaxtedbu had Jasper's diner and Phil could get a good breakfast, before going out in the freezing weather. 

"Long time no see, Phil," Jasper said, coming by. "It's not time for Worlds, what brings you by?"

"Fury has me looking for a new set of pilots," Phil explained. "I just got in, I need food and coffee before I go out there."

"What kind of food?" Jasper asked, filling Phil's coffee cup up.

"Whatever your special is," Phil said. 

Jasper chuckled. "Will do." He headed back over to the counter, leaning in and talking to his cook.

Phil took a sip of his coffee, glancing up as the bell jangled over the door. 

A petite redhead walked in and went straight to the counter. "Jasper, would you be dear and as Clint comes in, put an order for a full breakfast."

"I'd be happy to," Jasper said.

"Thank you." 

"Anything for you?"

"Some of that Lapusian Tea, if you have it?"

"Made sure to have it," Jasper said, but Phil tuned him out to go back to his report.

He'd missed the first day of the events as his transport had been delayed from the other side of the country. He needed to let Fury know that he'd found a potential pair, but Kree Racing was circling them. He wasn't sure they would be the best fit anyway and thought Shield could do better. 

The bell jangled again and Phil glanced up to see a muscular man enter. Clearly coming straight from a night of partying. He glanced around and plopped into a spare seat at the red head's table.

"Have a good time?" Red asked.

The man shrugged, reaching over and taking the cup and taking a sip. He made a face. "What the hell is that?"

"Tea," Red replied. 

Jasper appeared thumping a cup onto the table and filling it with coffee. "You look like shit, Barton."

"You are a star among men, Sitwell," Barton said, taking the cup and taking a sip. Phil mentally dismissed them and went back to his letter.

"You two aren't racing today, are you?" Jasper asked, which caught Phil's attention again.

"No," Natasha said. "We weren't scheduled for today. Thank the Stars."

"Got your breakfast coming," Jasper said. "Natasha always thinks you'll take longer to show up than you do."

"Thank you Sitwell, you're the best," Clint said.

"Yeah, well, you better remember that when Natasha Romanov and Clint Barton are household names," Jasper said, meeting Phil's eyes.

Phil started typing, glancing back at the screen, but he kept his ears open. Jasper had left the table.

"What broke?" Clint asked.

Natasha sighed. "Power converter."

Inwardly, Phil winced. Power converters were expensive.

"Fuck," Clint groaned.

"Val is trying to scavenge one for us and Tony has a part lined up for us, if she can't find anything cheaper."

"She's not going to be able to, if a Power Converter has been junked, it's because it's junk."

"I know," Natasha said. "So…"

"Time to tighten our belts again. I don't think what we have saved is enough for a new one," Clint said.

Phil glanced up at the silence to see Natasha shaking her head.

"IMP or PIX-E?" Clint suggested. "Jasper can get us a lead on one. Any winnings from that…" 

"Let's ask and see what has the biggest payout," Natasha said. "You going to be fit to fly?"

Clint snorted. "What we're looking at, won't be until tonight. I'll get a nap, I'll be ready. You should probably get one too, if we're going to be out late."

"Yeah." Natasha said.

Movement caught Phil's eye as Jasper came back and set a large plate of food in front of Clint. Phil almost objected, because he had ordered first.

"Where's yours?" Clint asked. There was a brief silence, before Clint made a disgusted grunt. "Jasper, we're going to need another plate. My soulmate seems to think that she shouldn't eat, because our budget is tight."

"I was going to have a nutrient shake when we got back," Natasha objected.

"Well, you can have half of this and we'll both have a shake," Clint replied.

Phil glanced up to see Clint neatly cutting things in half for his partner and splitting.

"Part of a shake, you never finish it."

"Yeah, well, I don't know how you and Tones drink that shit."

Phil smiled to himself, enjoying the banter of the pair as they finished breakfast and their topic turned to other things. It was clear that they were a pair. Soulmates in more than just the word. They teased each other, but were clearly fond of one another. Phil lingered over his own meal and work, so that they left first. Arms wrapped around each other and Clint leaning on his partner. Phil sighed, they almost made him wish for a soulmate beyond flying DRAGNs. 

He wasn't too surprised that Jasper sat down across from him and arched an eyebrow. "Those two, Phil."

"Yeah," Phil agreed. "What do you know about them?"

"Not much, they live racing, love it. If they could get some proper funding… I think they'd beat Nick and Carol's record for Worlds."

"You think they can beat the Three-peat?" 

Jasper nodded. "Yep."

Phil considered it. "Where'd you send 'em tonight?"

Jasper grinned. "Oh Phil, you're going to have to lose the professional look. Be at my place at nine."

*

Unsanctioned Mech racing was not where Phil ever thought he'd end up, but here he was, with Jasper on the shores of Knaton River. If only Melinda could see him now - leather pants, boots, and jacket with a ragged shirt on underneath. Jasper wore torn up jeans and another jacket. It was freezing and Phil was tempted to grumble, because couldn't looking less like a suit at least involve warmer clothes. 

The mechs were lined up on the southern bank with pilot camps tucked behind them. There were a few scattered tents, but in a race where they were going to have to disappear after the race was completed, it appeared most tents were three sided screens against the hauler or mech. IMPs stood for Internal Mind Pairing and were the smallest of mechanized drift racers. IMP races were shorter, typically under an hour with the occasional one that lasted two. The next biggest were PIX-E, which stood for Paired Internal eXchange-Event tended to last a couple of hours. DRAGN races lasted the better part of a day with the longest and most prestigious, the World Championship, spread over multiple days. 

Tonight's PIX-E race would follow the river's path to Thax Bay and take about two hours. Illegal races tended to be on the shorter end of time frames. Not that there were illegal DRAGN races, simply because they were more expensive to maintain. Currently, Pilots milled around their PIX-Es. 

"They do these around the mountains down south," Jasper commented. "Or in Canyons. Wherever crowds gather, there will be unsanctioned mech races even around sanctioned ones." Phil nodded aware of the idea. Some of these mechs wouldn't meet safety standards of sanctioned race, some had untested equipment in them. Far more dangerous, but if one was trying to become a pilot, it was a place to start.

They paused in front of a few mechs looking over them.

"That one is theirs," Jasper said, gesturing toward a black PIX-E with red highlights. There was a dark skinned woman going over it and occasionally looking at the crowds. Phil could hear a bit of music coming from the tent behind the mech. "SpiderHawk."

Phil arched an eyebrow.

"She likes spiders, he likes hawks. SpiderHawk. Not sure, why the DRAGN is Iron HawkSpider."

"Owner?" Phil suggested.

"They're self funded."

"Maybe it's a third co-owner," Phil said, musing out loud as the woman's eyes landed on them, but her attention turned as Clint and Natasha walked out of the tent in sync with one another. Perfect sync, they were just far enough away that Phil could watch as they seperated and climbed in the entryways. They had to have amazing drift compatibility to be that in sync with one another. He patted Jasper's arm in excitement. "Let's find a place to watch."

Jasper led the way down to the riverbed, stopping to place a bet with a heavy set gentleman. It was further down from the start/finish line than Phil would have liked, but he'd be able to see it. The PIX-Es were lined up on the ice and some poor scantily dressed woman headed onto it as well.

"Poor girl," Phil grumbled, eyes moving past her to where HawkSpider was idling, ready to go.

"That's the leader of the Fire Wolverine Riders," Jasper said. "Biggest mob in the area."

"Oh," Phil murmured as she waved a flag and the PIX-Es took off. The crowd around the roared as they took off. HawkSpider was off the mark in a moment, Phil followed its movements as it jockied toward the front almost immediately. If they handled a DRAGN Unit as well as a PIX-E then they would be perfect. Phil leaned, watching until they disappeared from sight. "How long until they come back?"

"About two hours," a new familiar voice said. Phil turned to see Thor Odinson of Asgard racing, smiling at him. "Hello, Phil."

"Thor," Phil greeted. He frowned. "Please tell me you're not here for the Iron HawkSpider team?"

"I'd like to be," Thor said, with a sigh. "But I am not in charge at Asgard and father doesn't like hiring pilots from outside of the Mourlandic Empire, much less from outside the Delenian Continent."

"Well, Odin's bias will be Fury's gain," Phil commented.

Thor nodded. "Completely."

"So what brings you here?"

"Looking for local Mourlanders with potential," Thor admitted.

"Have you moved into recruitment?" 

Thor nodded. "I found my soulmate, but she's more interested in design, so father has pulled me from the pilot program." He sighed.

"Soulmates are winners," Jasper chimed in with the familiar refrain. It was unfortunately true for the most part, but occasionally a non-soulmate pair stepped up and won the World Championship. It was why every major racing team had multiple soulmate pairs available. 

"Non-soulmates can be profitable," Thor grumbled. It was a complaint that Phil felt deep in his bones, one that he'd made before. Especially since, he knew it was unlikely that he'd ever find his soulmate.

"I know," Jasper said. "I flew with this guy for a season." He gestured toward Phil. "I couldn't stand to be away from Felix for that long though."

"So what happened to your partner?" Phil asked.

"Loki is flying with Hela now. Father doesn't mind having non-soulmated partners, if they haven't found their soulmates."

"Hopes they're going to find them, huh?" Jasper asked. "Then he'll gain a pair."

Thor nodded. 

"Has it worked?" Phil asked, curious.

"Not yet," Thor said, shaking his head.

"Does Asgard have any soulmates?" Phil said.

"Three pairs, Amora and Skurge, Heimdall and Tyr, and Korg and Meik," Thor said. "How's Barnes? I heard about his accident."

"Lost his arm, but Steve has found a new partner," Phil reported. "He's working on a spotter for his soulmate's team."

"So Shield has…?"

"No soulmated pilots," Phil admitted. "Soulmates in engineering and almost every other area, but pilots. They keep meeting with accidents."

"Best to find a new pair quickly," Thor murmured. "They'll start thinking you're cursed."

"I'm trying," Phil admitted. "But to be fair, Rumlow and Rollins went over to Hydra."

"If I see some non-Moulanders I'll let you know," Thor said. "You might want to get more than one pair in."

"Might be the plan, but Nick wants me to find a pair good and fast," Phil said. He hesitated, remembering that Thor had been an excellent pilot. "You know, Shield would keep you in the pilot pool. Both Sam and Steve have soulmates."

"Are you trying to recruit me?"

"You'd be a good recruiter, good spotter, and I'm sure we'd find room for your soulmate in our R&D department."

"Jane has two friends that would have to come with," Thor said. "Erik is R&D and Darcy is… well, Darcy."

"You want me to put together an offer?" Phil asked.

"You can, I make no promises though," Thor said.

"Fair, it may be a bit, though." He had to concentrate on the soulmate thing and that offer would take priority. Still Thor would be an asset to Shield.

"Soulmates first. I understand," Thor said and they chatted a bit and Phil was able to get the scoop on how things were going with Asgard along with a few other race teams. They both were careful in doling out information, but Phil made sure that Thor was given information equal to what he was giving. They both knew Odin would not consider Shield a threat with no soulmates currently on roster. 

Time flew by, until they were turning toward the sea as the sound of engines grew loud enough to be apparent. Phil leaned, trying to catch sight of which mech was in the lead. Everyone was trying to catch sight of the lead, but the lead mech was as dark as the night sky and it was only as it was passing in front of Phil that he caught sight of the red stripe that marked it as Hawk Spider. 

"Yes!" Thor yelled a moment later. "I don't mind losing to them." He gently patted Phil's shoulder. "I'll see you around."

"You have a racer in this?" Phil yelled at him.

Thor flashed a grin. "Ones I'm looking at came in second."

Phil looked over at Jasper, who shook his head. 

"Too young, won't be ready to compete on the big stage for another couple of years," Jasper explained. "So… you want to talk to them now?"

"No," Phil decided. "I want to see them in a DRAGN first."

"Okay," Jasper agreed.

*

_Clint blinked as he climbed down out of the IMP. He honestly felt like he could sleep for a week. He hadn't realized piloting took so much work that he could feel it in his head. He'd felt it before when he'd taken tests in school. That was before Barney and him had run away though, before his parents had died. He couldn't help, but glance around, wondering if maybe Barney was nearby. It was unlikely, Trick and him had travelled far away and Clint wasn't sure exactly where he was anymore._

_"You've got good instincts," Trick said, looking down at him._

_"Yeah?" Clint asked, perking up at the compliment._

_Trick nodded and was quiet for a moment. "How are you feeling?"_

_"Tired," Clint admitted. "Like brain tired."_

_Trick frowned. "Yes, that can be an unfortunate side effect."_

_"I'm not going to let it stop me," Clint said._

_Trick smiled, but moved to help start pulling off the padding that Clint was wearing. "I should hope not. It should get better the more we drift. The more we drift, the better we'll be, and then we'll be able to fly a Dragon."_

_Clint beamed at the idea. Enjoyed the thought until the padding was off._

_"How about you go get us some fuel?" Trick suggested, pulling out some money. "Might help with your brain. Get whatever you want."_

_"Ok, but what do you want?" Clint asked, wanting to make sure his mentor was well taken care of._

_"Oh, how about some of the fish and fries," Trick said._

_Clint nodded and took the money to go get some food. He was halfway across the fair, before he realized that he was still in the skintight suit that pilots wore under the armor. He'd completely forgotten to change out of it. He swallowed, realizing how little the tight clothes hid and sped up a little more as he scanned the places for fish._

_The fish place ended up being all the way at the end. He slipped into the line._

_"Well, look at the little pilot," a voice said, behind him._

_Clint almost jumped as the voice came from right next to ear. He hadn't realized the older man had moved in so close until he spoke._

_"Who you flying with, little one?" the man asked, looking him over._

_"Um, Trick," Clint answered, glancing back at him. The look was making him uncomfortable and Clint just wanted to get his food. Thankfully, he was able to do so and darted forward ordering food for Trick and himself. He stepped to one side toward the next window to wait for his order as did the man after he ordered._

_"Mmm, Trick always does choose winners," the man said, further engaging Clint in conversation._

_"He does?" Clint asked. This was at least a topic that interested him. "He's piloted Dragons?"_

_The man chuckled. "Oh no, Trick doesn't pilot Dragons, but he knows people who do, and he never holds back his partner, if they're ready to move on, he'll move on, so that they can ride a Dragon."_

_Clint nodded, feeling some relief at that. He had wondered if Trick could fly Dragons, why wasn't he? Everyone knew Dragons made much more money. They brought fame and fortune to pilots. So why was Trick only training? Maybe, that he enjoyed training and flying in smaller races. Clint knew how tired flying Imps made him, he supposed it would only be worse with Dragons._

_There were more people involved though in a Dragon team. Mechanics, managers, tower personnel. Maybe there was someone whose job it was to take care of pilots if they came out overly tired? Yes, there must be someone that functioned for that. A medic? Did teams have individual medics. He knew races did, because crashes occasionally happened. He'd have to ask Trick, Trick would know._

_"You're awfully quiet, little pilot," the man said._

_Clint jolted and realized that the man had moved closer again. Clint stepped away. "Just thinking."_

_"How long have you flown with Trick?" the man asked._

_"I just started."_

_The man hummed again. Thankfully, Clint's food was done and he grabbed it, before hurrying back towards Trick. He didn't want to think about the man and his looks._

_Trick greeted him when he made it back to the Imp. Clint went over to the small table and started handing Trick his food. They ate quietly._

_"Hey Trick, " Clint said, between bites. "What happened to all your other partners?"_

_Trick regarded him. "They moved on to fly Dragons."_

_"How come you're not flying a dragon?" Clint asked._

_"Well, how are kids supposed to learn to fly without an experienced flyer?" Trick asked. "Shame, I haven't met someone that couldn't find a place for me on their team."_

_"I'm sorry," Clint said. "I won't do that to you."_

_"I know," Trick said. "You're a good kid." He reached over and rubbed the top of Clint's head._

_Clint went back to eating as did Trick. It was a shame that not one of Trick's previous pilots had stuck with him. Well, Clint certainly wouldn't forget his first mentor and would make sure that Trick was taken care of when Clint became a Dragon pilot._


	2. The Team

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Hello Race Fans, News out of Shield Racing this morning, Coulson has hired Barton and Romanoff as soulmate pilots. Rumors are circulating that Fury isn't happy with Coulson's choice. Best hope they can pass their Drift Compatibility Test!_

_Natasha closed the door to the IMP and stepped away, glancing up at Alexi. "Yelena is doing very well with Marina."_

_"I know," Alexi said. "You are a better pilot than Marina."_

_He didn't mention that Marina and Yelena were more compatible. He was trying to spare her feelings, though they both knew it. They only had one IMP and Yelena could only enter into races with one partner. Alexi was attempting to choose the best partner for her based on the race, but Natasha was getting more lessons on machinery than pilot workouts. She nodded, electing not to point it out, and together they slipped out of the pit._

_"Why don't you find us some food for after?" Alexi suggested, pulling out his card and offering it to her._

_"Thank you," Natasha said. It was an excuse, so that she wouldn't have to watch the race. So she wouldn't have to question Alexi's decisions and wonder if she could have done better. She turned and headed toward one of the exits from the pilots' camp. The food vendors were typically right outside and Natasha knew what she wanted. She was almost to the exit when she caught sight of some purple on the ground and then another bit of purple and another. There were more and it almost looked like a pathway._

_She waited until there was a gap and checked. Yes, they were just about a step apart, which meant her soulmate! She eyed the path and decided that her soulmate was mostly likely headed away from the race. Well, that was useful. She had time and followed them._

_The path was on a straightaway and led to the very edges of the pilots' camp. There was an area that the purple was all over and there she spotted a few figures and an IMP. One was an older gentleman, who was talking to some Devil Ditzes and the other was a guy, slumped on the bed of their hauler. He looked a few years older than her and completely worn out._

_Natasha strode by, pretending that she had business that was taking her by and vowed to return later._

_She returned each day and it took a day or two for the boy to perk up. It was just in time for them to be gearing up for the quarter-finals. Natasha watched that race with a critical eye and they were good, good enough to qualify for the semi-finals, which Yelena and Marina were unable to do. The boy went right back to his practically comatose state after the race and the man kept him in sight._

_Alexi announced his intention to leave after the semis as there was little chance for a last minute replacement for the finals. The girls might earn a spot in semi, if an IMP broke down or a pilot got injured. The girls did not get their last minute call up, and thankfully the duo Natasha was stalking did not earn into the finals. Natasha made her way over to the camp afterwards. The man, Trick, was busy with a Devil Ditz. The boy was once more slumped on the bed of the Hauler, watching with vacant eyes._

_Natasha ducked around a corner and pulled her shirt up to expose her stomach and tugged the collar down to show off her cleavage. She ran her fingers through her hair, trying to make it a bit bigger, which the Ditzes of the area seemed to prefer. She pushed her pants down a bit and then Natasha put on her best ditzy impression as she approached the boy, swinging her hips and making it look like she was non-threatening. The man glanced over at her approach, but went back to his own Ditz._

_"Well, you look exhausted," she cooed at him._

_The boy blinked and looked at her. He seemed to know she said something._

_"I don't think it should be like that," Natasha leaned in to whisper in his ear. "You're going to get burned out." Then giggled when she caught sight of Trick glancing over at them again._

_The boy grunted, sounding absolutely confused._

_Natasha sighed and grabbed his hand, pulling him up. "Come on, lemme see if I can perk you up."_

_The boy came easily, trailing after her. Natasha made it seem like they were just going around the corner for a bit of privacy, but then kept going and heading back to her camp._

_They were about halfway there when the boy stopped. "I need to check with Trick."_

_"I wouldn't, he's clearly using you," Natasha stated, dropping her act and tugging him along._

_He came, but stated. "You're like 12."_

_Natasha snorted. "You're like 12. I at least recognize the signs of Ensy Sickness."_

_"Ensy?"_

_"Yeah, Ensy, Non Compatible Sickness," Natasha said as he came up onto her camp. Alexi looked up as she approached. "Alexi, this is my soulmate and I'm pretty sure he has Ensy Sickness."_

_The bearded man leaned into the boy's space and peered at him. "Are you tired after races, boy?"_

_The boy nodded._

_"Headache? Lose track of time?"_

_"Yeah?" the boy said slowly._

_Alexi nodded. "You need a better partner, boy."_

_"Trick can get me into a Dragon."_

_"Your Trick is going to make you mind dead," Alexi stated. He looked over at Natasha and spoke in Laupsian. "You were right to bring him here. I'm guessing you waited until we were packing?"_

_Natasha nodded. "His partner lost today, but he's kept an eye on him. We should go quickly."_

_Alexi studied them. "You're sure?"_

_Natasha nodded, glancing behind them and seeing the marks in the dirt. "Purple footprints."_

_Alexi nodded, looking back at the boy. "I think you should fly with us."_

_"But…" the boy started to object._

_"Tasha to be specific. Soulmates fly best together. Now, come boy." Alexi put a hand on his shoulder and guided him into the cab. Natasha followed, noting Yelena's face._

_"You're late, we were going to leave without you," Yelena said._

_"I had to get something," Natasha stated, helping the boy up and getting him settled._

_When she glanced over, she discovered Yelena staring at them along with Marina._

_"Who is this?" Yelena asked._

_"My soulmate," Natasha stated._

_Yelena snorted, but her expression changed. "Really?"_

_Natasha nodded as Alexi climbed in and started the truck. "We are going. I hope you didn't forget anything."_

*

Phil walked into the pilot's tent. The tents were made out of various materials, some were made of fabrics, others of plastic sheeting, and some of metal. The SpiderHawk team was made of patchwork of old metal, which was battered and banged up. Old and ugly, but still usable. 

"How're the interviews going?" Pepper asked from the doorway.

Phil considered the question. The interviews had started with Rhodey, who'd gone through pilot training and was also knowledgeable with engineering and did do some mechanic work. Rhodey's interview had been easy and Phil had hoped they would all be the same. Brunhilda Valkyior aka Valkyrie aka Val had problems. She'd been aggressive and admitted that she probably wouldn't pass any mechanic test, but they'd still want her around to scavenge. Phil had attempted to object until she'd described a situation where she would be useful and could function as a driver as well. Then came Braxton Carter aka Tones, whose ego was amazing and while he tried to play at being a simple mechanic, Phil was fairly sure that Tones' mind was going three times faster than Phil's and talked two times as fast. "Interesting…?"

Pepper smiled, stepping in and closing the door. "That sounds about right for this crew."

"And you Ms. Potts? Where do you fit in?"

"In almost none of the jobs, I'm currently doing," Pepper replied. 

"None?" Phil repeated.

"I do spotter work, because there's no one else. I do finance, because there's no one else. I do a lot of things here, because there's no one else to do them. With a team…"

"I don't think Clint or Natasha want to leave you behind."

"They don't and if you tried, they'd just pool their money with Tones and Rhodey to make sure I'm taken care of. So, my suggestion for myself is technically your executive assistant…"

"I don't need an assistant."

"You don't think you do, but you don't know this team like I do. Like how do you make sure Tones has the DRAGN unit ready and not mid-tweaking by the start of the race? How do you get Clint to stop watching tapes? What do you do when Clint and Natasha come home bloody from fighting with a stray in tow? Where do you find a place that Clint and Natasha will be comfortable leaving their stray? Who does the team like to hire locally for a race? Because they might have mentioned that they have hired locals in the past, but once the locals realize it's Clint and Natasha, they're going to come ask for jobs. What are you going to do when their luck runs out and they get busted for piloting in an unsanctioned PIX-E?"

Phil shook his head as he processed all of that. "Bloody?"

"Did I say that? Well, I'm declining to comment further on it." Pepper smiled sweetly, but Phil felt like he was looking in the face of a shark. "I may have misspoke."

"We haven't signed anything yet. I can walk…"

"Then you'd be an idiot, because they're going to be champions with or without Shield. You made a comment to Clint about how your most recent soulmate team was injured and he found out Sitwell flew for Shield as well. Did you know Hydra pilots were responsible for Sitwell's soulmate's accident as well?"

"He found tapes of that?" Phil asked.

"Val did. Val doesn't just find us parts, she finds us information. You want her on the team for that purpose. Take her for a driver for now, move her to security for when the time is right."

"Security?"

"You're going to need it eventually and you'll know why when they decide to trust you."

"You're not going to say?"

"Plans change, maybe you don't need to worry about it, so no." Pepper glanced away. "Besides they're not my stories to tell."

Phil nodded. "I guess that's fair."

"I'd be your executive assistant, but in reality I'd be more of an assistant manager of this team or assistant to everyone else."

"If they want to hire you for that…"

"Mr. Coulson, if I work for you, I have to report to you whatever hare-brain scheme the… chaotic ones have come up with and believe me they will come up with something that you haven't even thought of. They never pull the same stunt twice. If I work for them, well, I certainly wouldn't want my employers to lose their position."

"Chaotic ones?" Phil repeated.

Pepper nodded. "Tones, Clint, and Val. Natasha is more easily swayed to the chaos than Rhodey, but they both go eventually. And well, I'm looking forward to having another non-chaotic member of the group."

"This makes me rethink signing them," Phil stated.

"You'd be silly not to re-think, but you'd be an idiot if you didn't decide to embrace their chaos. They're all good people and they all ultimately want to make the world better. We're going to win with or without you. With you, we win sooner and win more. It'll take us longer without you, but we'll still win even if Tones has to build a whole new DRAGN himself"

Phil's eyebrows shot up. "Build a DRAGN on his own?"

Pepper nodded. "I think he's halfway there already, still trying to understand how the drift stuff works, but then that's the most outdated part of that dragon, because he can't figure out how to do it without risking Nat and Clint, but Val has her feelers out for someone that does understand that. I'm assuming you'll update that part of the DRAGN?"

"We might have a new DRAGN Unit," Phil admitted, making a note. "Depends on a few details."

"Right," Pepper nodded.

Phil regarded the woman. She looked calm and collected. If he thought about it, he shouldn't be too surprised by anything she had to say. They did go to an unsanctioned PIX-E to earn money to buy a part for the DRAGN. Val had been the one with them, but he wondered how much the other three knew. "Have you been a personal assistant before?"

"If you call Obadiah Stane of Stane Industries, he'll give you a recommendation," Pepper said. "I only ask that you not mention I'm part of an incoming racing team, just say Rhodey and I are looking for new jobs."

"Oh?" Phil asked.

Pepper nodded. "Consider it the first step to gaining our trust."

"I'll think about it," Phil promised. 

"Any questions?"

"So many," Phil admitted. "But I don't think you'll answer them. Where do you see Tones and Rhodey?"

"Mechanic for now and then R&D for Clint and Natasha. He has ideas on new engines, but he needs manufacturing, and for that we need capital."

"So that's where his paycheck will be going?"

"Exactly."

"Rhodey?"

"Manager for the B-squad," Pepper replied. "He's done the manager position for them. He's more than qualified."

"He won't move?"

"Only if you let him take back Site A," Pepper said. "No, he's good at that job, though he might want to add his name to the pilot candidate pool."

"Everyone wants to fly," Phil muttered.

"Even you," Pepper added.

Phil regarded her, before nodding. "I suppose you acting as assistant manager gives them access to keep track of personal finances."

"It does," Pepper agreed. "We actually do have a bit set aside. I was going to use some of that stash to buy our part, but Clint and Natasha mysteriously found the money." 

"You don't know how they got it?"

Pepper sighed. "Oh, they won't confirm it, but I'm pretty sure I've worked it out."

"Is Val going to accept a position as a driver?"

"She will when I talk to her about it. She helps Tones, but Tones is very different than any other mechanic lead. She won't get along with others and prefers to be free to do whatever side hustle she wants. Driver fits her."

"Fair enough," Phil agreed. He considered what she'd said. He could keep looking, but there were only a few more Regional races in the Mroulandic Empire and then it would be Wrogan's regionals. No, they were the best pair and if given the funding, they would certainly be competitive. The positions that Pepper suggested for the crew made sense in a number of ways. He nodded. "I think we've reached an agreement, so long as everyone is in agreement of what's offered."

"Good," Pepper said and pulled out a familiar stack of papers. "Now, I'd like to discuss amendments to Clint's and Natasha's contract."

"You?"

"They trust me to handle things. Shall we begin?"

Phil nodded, reaching down to grab his own copy. 

*

"You couldn't have warned me this was going to happen upon arrival," Phil growled at Nick. He hadn't missed the panic in his pilots' eyes when they were told they were going to test compatibility immediately. Tones, Pepper, and Rhodey were trailing behind with the pilots.

"Do you normally test pilots minutes upon their arrival?" Pepper asked, suddenly in Fury's space.

Fury looked shocked that this newcomer was daring to get into his face.

"Because I think I'd like to speak to your HR lead about this harrassment of my friends and co-workers," Pepper continued. 

"I've never heard of this," Phil said. "Drift compatibility tests are usually done, but not as soon as pilots walk in the door!"

"The contract states that I can test them whenever I want," Fury said, raising his voice. "Well, I want to do it now! I need compatible pilots and maybe I would have given them a bit more time, but I'm also in a situation where I don't have time to wait." He directed his gaze at Pepper. "And I own this company, HR answers to me."

Pepper looked unfazed at his tirade. "I'm still registering a complaint."

"Go ahead," Fury said, looking at Phil. "Who is this anyway?"

"My new personal assistant," Phil answered calmly, nodding to Fitz and Simmons who appeared.

"You never wanted an assistant before," Fury replied.

Phil shrugged. "She made a compelling argument."

Fury's eye narrowed as he looked at Pepper. Pepper leveled her own look back at him.

"I worked for Stark Industries, you're not that impressive," Pepper stated.

Fury puffed up. "Their quality has gone down the shithole."

"As I thought it would when Tony died, which is why Rhodey and I left," Pepper replied.

"Mr. Barton follow me," Fitz said, gesturing to Clint.

"We're being seperated?" Natasha asked, who did not look anywhere near as panicked her partner. 

"Unfortunately, our combined tester is down, we have to use the ones for testing non-soulmates and we like to do that blind," Fury stated. "It shouldn't have any effect on your compatibility."

The pilots did not like that idea and neither did their crew, Tones was wrapping an arm around them, whispering in their ears.

"I'd like to have one of my people look at it, just to verify it doesn't work," Pepper said. "Before continuing this."

Fury gave her a long look and sighed. "We're in the middle of upgrading it. Phil can pull up the documentation." 

Phil was pulling out his datapad and pulling up the files as he said that and frowned, finding the paperwork and the planned dates, which were set before he signed Clint and Natasha. He handed it over to Pepper and she read it. He wasn't surprised, Nick might not approve of Phil's choice, but he wouldn't purposefully toss them in the separated unit, if it wasn't true.

"This will also be going in my complaint," Pepper stated, handing the datapad back to Phil.

"Phil's been coming up with nothing for a while now," Nick stated. "Didn't expect him to find these two. Now if you'll follow me."

Nick led them down the hallway into the control booth, where they could see both Natasha and Clint getting hooked up to the machine. Clint's lips were moving, but whatever he was muttering, wasn't being picked up through the mics. Fitz and Simmons left at roughly the same time. Then they were both singing, same song. Phil glanced back to see Tones and Rhodey bumping their fist.

"Good job," Rhodey said, softly.

"Is this common?" Fury asked.

"For them," Pepper said and there was a smile tugging on her lips. 

Phil realized that they were in tune and completely in sync with the other. Occasionally one would stop and the other would continue only to stop again with the first picking up at exactly the right time. 

Fitz came around and glanced at Fury. "Do we…"

"Are you ready? Then go," Fury ordered.

Simmons nodded, "Initiating neural handshake, in three… two… one…"

Phil watched as the instruments climbed higher, quickly heading out of Ensy Sickness range into the low compatibility range for non-soulmates and then the numbers pushed back the low numbers for soulmates. The lowest number that meant Shield would have to honor the contract. Phil let out a of breath of release.

"That's lower than usual," Tones said softly behind them. 

"Didn't have enough time, can't see or hear one another," Rhodey said, listing all the reasons it was so low and Phil agreed with them. When the testing was done, both Natasha and Clint scrambled out of their chairs and disappeared down the hall. Tones and Rhodey slipped out of the room.

Fury was silent, eyeing the number. He had to have known that Phil wasn't going to bring in a pair without compatibility. 

"You can't void the contract," Pepper stated, breaking the silence. He glanced over and he was certain that she was nervous about this. "Their score was high enough."

"You're right I can't," Fury said. "But… since you've already got a mech, you can stick with that."

"That's fine," Clint said from the doorway, where they entered. "I like our Dragon."

"So do I," Natasha agreed.

"Well, glad we're agreed," Fury said. He looked over them all, before his eyes landed on Phil. "I need you in Wrogan, find me another set of soulmates."

"I thought Coulson was going to be our manager," Natasha said.

"Coulson's team will be the team I chose for him," Fury stated. "You'll work with Hand."

"What about Pepper?" Tones asked.

"Well," Fury said looking over at her. "Per she's Coulson's assistant, which would mean she's going to Wrogan as well." With that Fury swept out of the room. 

"Was our score that bad?" Clint asked, looking over at Rhodey.

"Just within the acceptable limits for soulmates," Simmons answered. "It'd be a good score for non soulmates, but technically… Steve and Sam have a higher compatibility, which would make them the top team."

"All it means is that you'll have to prove yourselves in races," Phil said, looking at the team he'd brought in and now was going to force to break up. "He can't fire you."

"And part of the contract is that Shield has to enter you in so many races and you have to race in so many, provided the Dragon is working and you two are healthy," Tones said.

Phil arched an eyebrow surprise, he hadn't expected the mechanic to realize what was going on.

Tones shrugged at the look. "We all read it."

"There's a good chance Pepper and myself will be at your races, I'm supposed to be looking for a soulmate pair that I can snatch away. You're not doing the Wrogan Regionals, because you'll need to settle into a team."

"There's also a chance that Fury could send you to Mouria," Pepper pointed out.

Phil hesitated, because Fury loved to threaten that, but Phil doubted that Nick would want his best friend that far away. Still, Phil nodded in agreement. "And if that happens, we could maybe leverage your soulmate with Mr. Rhodes into a transfer for you." 

"We can?" Pepper asked.

"It's a possibility," Phil said and took a deep breath. "Regardless, FitzSimmons..." The two techs perked and looked at him. "I'd like you to apply for a position on this team. Tones' an excellent mechanic, but his area of greatest weakness is the equipment for the neural handshake, in which you two are the experts."

"I don't know if Fury would let us…" Fitz said, clearly hesitating.

"Fitz, we have it in our contracts that we can join a team if they'll have us," Simmons said.

"Yeah, but…" Fitz said, eyeing them and clearly intimidated.

"Up to you if you want to," Clint said, sounding a bit more relaxed. "And I bet Fury can read the results as well as you, so not like we can blame you for our poor performance."

Natasha nodded. "Do we have some place we can talk by ourselves?"

"Of course," Phil said. "Follow me." They would have a lot to discuss now and he knew it could change things. He escorted them to a room and dropped them off, but it was Pepper who lingered outside.

"Hand?" Pepper asked.

"Victoria Hand, she's… she's a stickler for the rules," Phil admitted. 

Pepper frowned. "She won't last. They need someone a bit more flexible and..."

Phil nodded his agreement with the assessment. "I will do my best to get you back with them, I promise you."

"They like you," Pepper said. "You're going to have to get yourself there too."

"There are plenty of other…" He trailed off when Pepper raised her hand.

"And one of them might work," Pepper agreed. "Try and introduce me, I'll see if I can guide a better choice for their next one."

"I'll try and put in for it, if it comes open," Phil vowed. 

"Thank you, Phil."

"You were impressive with Fury. Not many people stand up to him like that."

Pepper smiled slowly. "Please, he's a small fish compared to some people I've met. He wasn't going to hurt me unlike Pierce from Hydra, I always got the feeling he was capable of outright murder."

"You've met Pierce?" Phil asked.

"He signed a big deal with Stane shortly before I left." 

Phil nodded. 

*

_Clint woke up slowly. He sighed softly, feeling the post-race fog had lifted. He glanced around and frowned, because this was not Trick's vehicle. For one, Clint had a bunk in the back and this had no bunk. It was just the cab of a truck and he was alone. He peered out the window to find that he was in a garage, an unfamiliar one. He peered out of each window and made sure that there weren't any people around, before climbing out. Once the door was open, he caught the sound of voices and followed after them, trying to keep himself hidden. He peered around a corner to find a young woman that he vaguely remembered and an older, bearded man._

_"...boy must have a choice," the bearded man that Clint thought was named Eric? Alex? He couldn't remember. He'd heard it in the post-race stupor, but everything was just out of reach. Was he the boy? Because, Fuck them if he was, he was 20 years old. He was just skinny._

_"He's my soulmate though," Tanya(?) replied._

_Soulmate?! Clint thought to himself and glanced toward where Tanya was pacing. Sure enough, she was leaving purple footprints behind her. He looked at the girl and she was… pretty. A few years younger than him and about his height with bright red hair._

_"And he wants to fly Dragons. I want to fly dragons." She was saying._

_"Flying Dragons is hard, even for soulmates," the man said. "Let him make the choice to stay. Besides, I'd rather not be a kidnapper."_

_Clint hesitated, before stepping around the corner. "You kidnapped me?" He really didn't remember if they had and usually he was agreeable post-race. Trick tended to keep a close eye on him afterward._

_The red headed girl regarded him. "Good, you're awake."_

_"Welcome, boy, I am Alexi and this is Natasha," the man said. "Natasha is the one that found you."_

_"I decided to find my soulmate," Natasha replied._

_"Me?" Clint asked._

_"You," Natasha replied. "Dragons fly better with soulmates. You and I both want to fly Dragons."_

_"Trick can…"_

_Natasha snorted. "Your partner is no partner. He's going to burn you out."_

_"She's not wrong," Alexi said. "Non-Compatibility Sickness is a thing between non-soulmates in the Drift Mechs at all levels."_

_"It only gets worse until you go into that stupor state and just never wake up," Natasha said, staring into space. "Then your body is sold and you're basically a living sex doll." She looked over at Clint, who was staring at her in horror. "Stupid boy, didn't even think."_

_"It does look to be what your Trick was doing or would do again when you were no longer useful."_

_"So, you're my choice," Clint said, looking at the girl._

_"I am?"_

_"I was being sarcastic."_

_"Do you parents know you're with this Trick?" Alexi asked._

_"They're dead, and my brother, Barney, found him for me to partner with, before he left."_

_Natasha arched an eyebrow._

_"He was never interested in Mechs, I'm sure he's fine," Clint replied, because Barney had never under his fascination with Dragons. Still, he wondered… "Can I go?"_

_"Of course," Alexi said, gesturing toward a door._

_"But…"_

_Clint headed toward said door and walked out. He kept walking and after a few minutes, he glanced back to see that no one was following him. Everyone knew that soulmates worked better together, so he waited for someone to come after him, but no one did. He waited until the sun set, before heading back and knocking on the door._

_Alexi opened it and smiled down at him. "Had to test us?"_

_"Yeah, Trick wouldn't have let me leave," Clint admitted, rubbing an arm._

_"Come," Alexi said, escorting him inside. "Natasha! Your little bird has come back."_

_"Guess, he isn't an idiot then," Natasha said._

_"Let's show you what we have," Alexi said, guiding him into a garage._

_"That's not an Imp," Clint said looking at the Mech. "That's a Pixie."_

_"Exactly, Dragons are expensive. We can attract attention with a Pixie as they attract National coverage and occasional multi-national coverage."_

_"But we have Imps to make sure that you are compatible," Alexi explained. "It's rare, but sometimes…"_

_"Those people usually have no desire to fly Dragons though," Natasha stated._

_"We will check to make sure," Alexi said. "And then training. You must become one, best pilots move as one." He looked down at Clint. "It will take work. Are you ready?"_

_"I'm ready," Clint said with a nod. "Show me the Imp."_

_Alexi laughed. "No, first you must recover."_

_"I feel fine," Clint stated._

_"Best treatment for Ensy Sickness is not entering the drift," Alexi explained. "But you can work on other things and help with the other girls."_

_"Other girls?"_

_"My adopted sisters, Marina and Yelena," Natasha said. "With you here, I'll be officially not working with Yelena anymore. We will train together so that we can move as one."_

_Clint nodded, maybe a little grateful that he wasn't going to be jumping in a mech with the girl right away. That he would have time to really get rid of the fuzzies that had been persisting when he flew with Trick lately. He didn't like that all he could do was remember racing._

*

Phil ducked into the tent of the SpiderHawk. Not that the structure was in any way temporary, but the name had stuck even as the buildings had become permanent. Clint and Natasha had been with Shield for almost two years and managed to annoy and drive off just about every other coach that Fury had, all while performing well enough not to have their contract voided. Hand had been far too strict and no nonsense to deal with a team that well… Phil had realized, been rejected by society and didn't play by the rules, except when it came to racing. 

Pepper had met each of the coaches going in and had made predictions for how long they'd last and their reason for leaving. She hadn't been wrong yet.

The tent was quiet, which was unusual. Normally Clint and Natasha would be well into their warm up routine by now. There was some noise and he followed it to find Clint staring at the vidscreen watching an old DRAGN race. Natasha was absently watching as well, but her feet were in Clint's lap and he was absently rubbing them.

"Hey Coulson," Natasha said. "Where's Mace?"

"On his way to HQ," Phil replied. "Shouldn't you be getting ready?"

"Storm front is coming in. They're going to push back the start time until tomorrow," Clint said, not taking his eyes from the screen.

Phil's eyes narrowed. "And you figured that out how?"

"Because Ms. Munroe 's DRAGN got hit by lightning and shorted out in her final race, and when that happens, the Officials always call it…"

"Yes, but…" Phil started.

"Is it still on?" Natasha asked, moving to a more seated position and Phil realized that they were both dressed in what they wore under their suits. 

"No, Barton's right," Phil said.

Natasha smiled and dropped back down, nudging Clint with her feet until he started again.

"So if Mace is on his way to HQ, does that mean we're without a manager again?" Natasha asked.

"No, Fury has decided that since I brought you in, I can deal with you," Phil stated. He paused. "I think you made a good impression on Carol and that mellowed him some."

"I liked Danvers," Clint commented, stilling and picking up the remote to rewind the video. 

"Fanboy," Natasha said, nudging his leg with her foot.

"Fanboy?" Phil repeated.

"Fury and Danvers were my favorite team growing up. Nice that one of them isn't totally horrible," Clint said.

"Fury isn't horrible," Phil said, defending his friend. "He's just trying to watch out for his business. Shield can't do with the bad publicity though it seems you've been very well behaved."

"Right," Clint said, rewinding the video again.

Phil glanced over to see Natasha smirking. 

Phil sighed. "Let me guess, you just haven't been caught?"

"I don't have to admit to anything," Natasha said.

"There," Clint said, patting Natasha's ankle. 

Phil looked at the screen as Clint started going frame by frame and talking about how the DRAGN juked slightly right and then went left. He then played it full speed a few times. 

"Got it," Natasha said. "So if they juke right, we risk it?"

"Swing right a little, just in case they break the pattern, I'd say," Clint said, hitting play again.

"Is this a habit of theirs?" Phil asked, leaning onto the back of the couch.

"Yeah," Natasha said, pulling out a notebook and jotting it down. She showed him the page. "Multiple times, multiple races."

Phil skimmed the notes, which cited the race and time it occured as well as a short description. "Nice work."

Clint glanced over at him. "That didn't sound sarcastic."

"It wasn't," Phil replied. "I'm impressed. You did good work. How's the support team? Any issues I need to be aware of."

Natasha and Clint shared a look. It was Clint that spoke up. "Get rid of Gort. I don't like how he looks at Natasha or any of the other women, especially Kate."

"Kate?" Phil said.

"Tones' intern," Natasha said. 

"Tones has an intern?" Phil asked.

"Uh huh," Natasha said with a little nod.

"Anything else?" 

"Joseph Hammerhead," Natasha said. "He's got the same slimey vibe."

Clint paused the video, turning to look at her.

"He hasn't done anything or said anything. He's more experienced at hiding it, but…"

"Your instincts are better at determining slimeballs than mine are," Clint intoned with annoyance of a man that has had it pointed out to him approximately one million times.

"Exactly, he doesn't play the same games that Gort does, which you've noticed, because you've gone all crazy big brother for Kate."

"She…"

"I'm not complaining. It's rather adorable," Natasha interrupted. "However, Gort and Hammerhead are buddies and Hammerhead takes a mentoring lead with Gort, so…"

"He's getting it from Hammerhead," Clint surmised.

"OK, I'll keep my eye on those two, anything else?"

"Keep Trip, he's a good egg for all that he's supposed to be learning from Hammerhead," Clint said. 

"Mac down in the shop would make a great lead for Site 2." Natasha said. "If we ever get a race where we need multiple supports."

"Does he work on the drift machines?" Phil asked.

"No, most of the drift experts take one look at how old what's in there is and they want to change it all," Natasha said. "We don't have time for a complete overhaul nor do we have time to adjust and it's going to take some adjustment."

Phil frowned. "Most are able to go from one machine to another easily."

"Most aren't using tech from when Fury and Danvers won their last race," Clint commented.

Phil winced. "Good point. Alright, I'll…"

"Hey, Barton, Romanoff," Tones' voice preceded his arrival. "Last Call to get ready. If they haven't called it by now, they're… Coulson."

"Tones," Phil said. "They called it."

Tones nodded. "Barton thought they might, but Natasha wanted me to give a last call."

Phil nodded. "Thank you, nice to know that they did plan ahead."

"Yeah, well…" Tones said, hesitating. "How's Pep?"

"Well, I'm sure she's going to be very happy when I tell her we have a new assignment." Phil answered.

"Yeah?" Tones asked.

"How's the mechanics? Any problems I need to be made aware of? And since when do you have an intern?"

"Gort needs to go and I need someone that knows the drift stuff and will change it out slowly."

"I'll call Fitz Simmons myself, they might be more willing with me here," Phil said as he considered it. "If not, maybe I can borrow Streiten from Maria. Let your people know that the race should be tomorrow and have the DRAGN prepped for then."

"Excellent," Tones said. He turned to go, pausing in the doorway. "Looking forward to working with you. Pep's only said good things.

Phil nodded, glancing back toward Clint and Natasha to see them standing up. Clint had been skinnier a few years ago and now he'd filled out some, a bit more muscle. Alright, a lot more muscle, which the skintight clothes they wore, showed it all off. Clint had a soulmate though, so whatever inappropriate thoughts he had, needed to pushed aside.

"I'm going to change," Clint said, heading toward the living area.

A hand landed on Phil's and Phil followed it to up the arm to meet Natasha's eyes. "We're not perfect, but we're glad you're here. Hopefully, you can be a bit more flexible in your thinking."

"I'm sorry it took so long," Phil said.

Natasha smiled at him, before following her partner. Phil sighed and went to find Pepper and the rest of the team to make sure they were ready for tomorrow.

*

The music had been the number one complaint regarding this team. Too loud and for no reason had been what was said but Phil could see a reason with each twitch and step, if they weren't going to drift properly, they'd know as they moved around each other. It was actually the first time that Phil had been able to see it in full. One thing was certain, the testing for them hadn't been fair…

They were used to a routine, a routine that judging by the song choice hasn't changed much if at all. Phil had recognized one song as the one they had sung during the compatibility test. He wondered how their compatibility fared based on how much of the routine was completed. He doubted they'd ever want to do testing to find out, but Phil was curious. 

Phil's attention wandered from them to those that were working around them. He made notes of anyone that seemed to be upset with the music, those people should be offered new positions after all. There were several that moved along with the beat of the music. Tones was practically a third member of the routine as he finished the warm up procedure. Mac was going about his business, but judging by the bright pink in his ears, he'd found a way to block out the music. 

He glanced over to where Val was leaning on the rails next to him overlooking the prepping station. "How much longer?"

"Not much," Val said. The grin she flashed was dangerous. "Is it too much for you?"

"Not yet, might invest in a pair earplugs though," Phil said. "Just wanted to go down and speak with them."

"They don't like much talking after," Val said.

"I don't have much to say," Phil admitted, pushing off to head down the stairs. 

Somehow as Phil reached the bottom of the stairs, the music came to an end. He watched as Natasha and Clint grabbed their helmets and tucked them under an arm in perfect sync with the other. They paused when they saw him in their path.

"Don't worry, I don't have much to say, I know you've been watching videos and you're prepped for this," Phil said. "I just wanted to wish you… Good Luck."

In unison the left eyebrow rose.

"Mace had a tendency for long speeches, didn't he?"

Their eyebrows fell as the smirks grew. 

"Hand always wanted to go over last minute strategy," Clint said.

"Brand thought now was a good time to complain about how loud it was," Natasha added.

"Well, I'm not them. Get going, do your best to bring back a win."

The two shared a look, before nodding. "We'll do our best." They said in unison, before heading to their DRAGN. 

Valkyrie was waiting for him at the bottom step. "I don't like to leave until the neural handshake is complete."

"That'll cut it close to get to your viewpoint before the race starts," Valkyrie warned.

"I'm aware, but if something is wrong with the handshake I need to know and I can't do anything if I'm en route. Can you handle getting me there on time?"

Valkyrie nodded. 

"Granted, today, it doesn't matter much now as Rhodey is in charge, but…"

"In the future, when you're sure you're not stepping on people's toes."

"Oh, I'm going to step on some toes." There was no two ways about that, but he wanted to do the minimum toe stepping or rather select toe stepping. Some of that would be asking the question are you happy with this team and if they weren't, well, Phil would find them a new position.

*

"Well?" Phil asked as Fitz and Simmons emerged from the DRAGN. 

"It's positively ancient," Fitz stated as she started making her way down. "It's older than I am!"

"Hey, watch it," Clint growled.

Phil glanced behind him to see the new crew, because apparently Natasha and Clint had collected people. Those people included Mac, who didn't enjoy the loud music, but thought they were going to go far, Kate, Tones' mysterious intern (Phil had so many questions), and somehow Melinda in the few short weeks that she'd taken over from Hammerhead.

"Are you upset because he called the ship old or because you think he's implying that you're old?" Natasha asked

Phil glanced over at Clint, eyebrow raised, curious as to which one he had meant.

"She's the only one that has won a world championship in this building," Clint pointed out. "Show some respect!"

Natahsa smiled and shook her head.

"What needs to happen, is that during your off season, we need to upgrade it quickly and make adjustments," Simmons explained.

"Or a new DRAGN," Fitz said. "Surely, they've…"

Phil shook his head. He mentioned it to Fury and the other man stated that they needed a national win before getting them another DRAGN. It could have very well been due to the fact that Nick was contemplating moving the two PIX-E soulmates that Phil had found up to DRAGN. Well, technically, Pepper had found them, but Phil had recruited them. 

"Can you keep it running?" Barton asked.

Fitz and Simmons exchanged looks. It was Simmons that spoke up. "We think so and make a few upgrades, between races."

"It's really outdated though," Fitz warned. "I'm surprised that you even drift with it."

"Let me know if you need any parts," Tones said. "Custom or otherwise."

Phil glanced over at him, arching an eyebrow. 

"We bought a machine shop," Pepper said.

"We?" Phil asked.

"Rhodey, Tones, and I," Pepper said. "In Ratumad."

Phil glanced over at Natasha and Clint. "You two didn't invest?"

"We have other plans," Clint stated.

Phil arched an eyebrow, curious. 

Clint looked back at him and a quick glance at Natasha, showed that she too was completely bland in their expression, giving nothing away. Phil sighed. Whatever secrets these two had, they were not willing to share with him. He looked over at Tones. "Thank you, it's appreciated."

"No problem, I mean, the plan is to eventually build a Dragon from scratch," Tones said. His attention moved to Fitz and Simmons. "Which we'll need these two young minds for."

"Well, we have a job," Fitz said.

"If you're wanting us to do extra work, we don't come cheap."

"Jemma!" Fitz said, looking shocked.

"What? The idea sounds appealing. I'm curious!"

Tones grinned and Phil sighed. 

"Alright, we need to get a move on. We've got a race tomorrow."

Natasha and Clint slipped out together, moving in almost sync. Phil still couldn't believe that they had scored so low when they'd met Fury. They were such good soulmates and strong. 

*

_"You two ready?" Alexi said over the comms._

_Clint shifted in the unfamiliar suit and glanced over at Natasha, who was looking at him. Checking the drift compatibility of each other was necessary and unlike some fancy companies, they didn't have a machine just for that. They had to suit up and climb in the Pixie._

_"I'm ready," Natasha said. "Are you?"_

_"Yeah," Clint said with a short nod. "Been a while."_

_"Initializing," Alexi stated._

_Clint took a deep breath as the mechanics whirred to life around them._

_"Engaged," Alexi said._

_He reached and found Natasha's hesitant reach back. Flashes of her life came over, including areas that were just static. There were things that Natasha didn't remember, but Alexi was there. Carefully teaching her to fly, carefully teaching her to watch out for men like Trick, for kids like Clint. Other pilots came and went from Alexi's care, but Natasha stayed. She was the big sister to the young ones. She was able to spot those with Ensy with ease. Smart and sly and the only thing she wanted for herself was to fly a Dragon. Just like Clint._

_"Good numbers," Alexi added. "Alright, I'm going give you twenty minutes to move the PIX-E."_

_Clint wanted to object, twenty minutes wasn't near long enough. He could feel that Natasha felt the same, but she would follow orders and expected the same of Clint. Reluctantly, they moved, lifting the ship up and taking it for a spin around the building, getting a feel for one another in flight. They moved slow at first, but halfway through Natasha urged the speed and Clint grinned as they raced, pushing it to the limit._

_"Time," Alexi ordered. "Come back in."_

_Clint wanted to object, but he could feel Natasha's insistence in the drift. They landed and Natasha graced him with a smile._

_"Nice work," she said._

_"We got this," Clint said, smiling back at her. "We'll be ready to fly in no time."_

_Natasha laughed._

_They climbed out of the Pixie and Alexi was immediately on Clint, shining a light in his eyes and asking so many questions that he struggled to keep track of them._

_"Hmm, maybe you need to be out a bit more," Alexi said._

_"What? No! Why don't you give me a chance to respond, first!" Clint objected. "Head feels fine. I mostly feel… hungry? And… like I need to move?"_

_Alexi regarded him. "Alright, Natasha take him to the gym, let him hit some stuff to get his energy out while we fix some food."_

_Clint nodded and started heading that way._

_"Clint," Alexi called. "Remember this, it's always supposed to feel it."_

_Clint nodded, wrapping an arm around Natasha, pulling her into him. "Not like I'm going to partner with anyone else. Not with my soulmate around."_

_"Accidents happen though. Tiredness, a foggy brain, forgetfulness - all things that should not happen with a drift partner. Understood?"_

_Clint nodded. Natasha elbowed him in the side and slipped away from him. Clint hurried to catch up with her so that they could walk side by side. "I think we did great?"_

_"Alexi was happy with our results," Natasha agreed. "More happy with how your brain turned out."_

_Grinning, Clint glanced at her. "Yeah, never knew it was supposed to feel like this."_

_"Laupsia at least acknowledges Ensy exists and gives the signs of it," Natasha stated._

_"Well, Nuban," Clint said. "They're not even a stop."_

_"Because nothing good ever comes from there," Natasha said. "Except for maybe, you. Time will tell."_

_"When do you think he'll let us fly again?"_

_"Tomorrow for about twenty minutes again," Natasha said._

_"I think we should go in a line tomorrow, see how far we can get by the halfway point and head on back."_

_Natasha considered this. "As long as we don't go out of comm range."_

_"Fair, so you're with me?" Clint asked._

_"Obviously," Natasha agreed with a laughter in her voice. Her smile was small, but it was there. Great things were going to happen of that Clint was sure._


	3. The Stray

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Good Evening Sports Fans! Can you feel it? It's almost my favorite time of year. The World Championship Race is right around the corner, The Long Flight. Oh, I can't wait! We've only got four races left and all the big name teams have at least one team already having earned a spot. Well, except for Shield, but both Shieldfalcon and Iron HawkSpider are just outside the bubble. If either team wants to make it in, they'll need a win. Personally, I think it'll Shieldfalcon will make it, not so sure with Iron HawkSpider._
> 
> _Don't forget after the last regular season race, the locals are having a fair with IMP and PIX-E races, so if you can't get spots for the DRAGNs, you can still see a race!_

_Natasha watched as Clint paced. She supposed that she should be admiring how the form-fitting uniform showed off just how much he'd been working out during his enforced break. She should be feeling a stirring or something. Yelena certainly admired Clint's looks and flirted with him constantly, though Clint tended to just look at her looking completely confused. She wondered if it was due to someone flirting with him or if it was because it wasn't her. They were soulmates and Clint was physically attractive, but right now all she could think about was how that idiot was going to throw his helmet in a few seconds and it better not break._

_3…_

_2…_

_1…_

_There went the helmet as Clint's frustrations overtook him. It wasn't that she didn't understand his frustration, she did. She hated how they'd lost, especially when they'd come so close to placing. The move by Dread Angel had forced them down and caused them to not even place. Still, it had been their first PIX-E. The first time they drifted in a race as well. While the result had been less than stellar, there had been positives._

_"It's not like Alexi bet on us anyway," Natasha said. "Everyone knew Chaos Suit was going to win. They've been tapped by Ironavigation to be their next Dragon pilots."_

_"We…" Clint started._

_"There are two ways to get into Dragons. Be good enough to grab the attention of a big name racing team or buy your own."_

_Clint's shoulders heaved as he sighed. "I know. He make what he planned on?"_

_"He was on track after the IMP races," Natasha replied. "Spider won."_

_"Great, Yelena and Melina will be extra smug."_

_"We both know, we could beat them in IMPs and have," Natasha pointed out._

_Clint nodded and moved over to her. He leaned into her, getting in close. "You think we can do this?"_

_"Have I ever wavered in my belief?"_

_"No," Clint said._

_"Go pick up your helmet," Natasha ordered. "If it's broken, we're selling your shit to replace it."_

_Clint sighed, before going to go get it. He picked it up and tossed toward her. Natasha caught it and checked it over, before nodding._

_"I don't care if you get pissed, but no breaking shit."_

_"How are you so calm?" Clint asked._

_"Because Alexi will get video of the incident and then he'll come up with a counter and the next time we face Dread Angel, they're going to eat our fumes."_

_"Don't get mad, get even?"_

_"Revenge is best served cold," Natasha replied with an easy grin._

_Clint nodded, smiling at her. "I guess we look at the tape."_

_Well, Natasha thought, at least Clint was starting to see the value of watching tape. He'd been resistant to it before, far too active to actually want to sit and learn. Alexi had let him skip it and encouraged Natasha to bring it up as a way to improve.  
_

*

The pounding beat of the music echoed throughout the tent and Phil realized that it was time to head out. With Fitz and Simmons on site, he felt more comfortable leaving to the tower before the neural handshake than he had before their arrival. He stood, slipping out of the office and climbed the stairs up to the ready level and was greeted by Clint's shaking ass as Natasha and him went through their usual routine. It started with ti chai, but eventually turned into a dance party. Phil wasn't sure how it had started and was rather afraid to even ask. Regardless, it was what they did. For the most part, the crew ignored them as they went through it. As far as Phil knew the music rarely changed. 

Still, by the time the music kicked into high gear, Phil tended to be out of the building, taking his place as a spotter for the race. He slipped by them without a word, though his gaze lingered on Clint's form. It wasn't long before he was out of the building and away from the noise. 

There was a walk to the tram area and then a ride on the tram to the spotter building. Clint and Natasha had actually earned a spot toward the top of the tower. They had a good shot at winning today's race, but well, things tended to change. There were only a few races left until the World's race and a few slots left for the running. Every race counted right now and Clint and Natasha needed a win within these last races to earn one of those coveted slots. He entered the Shield room, because racing teams tended to share the highest tower. 

"You're late," Bucky greeted, glancing behind him. 

"I was running numbers," Phil admitted. "Only a few races left."

"And a few slots," Bucky agreed. "Steve and Sam should get one."

"Really?"

"We've got a couple wins, all they need is a top five in this race," Bucky said. "At least that's what Maria said."

Phil nodded. "Is she over at the second tower?"

Bucky nodded. "Yeah, figured since we're on the same team…"

"No, it's what we talked about."

He took a seat and glanced toward the screen to see the racers lining up at the start. They had their strategy and both Clint and Natasha knew it well. Clint had spent hours watching tape with him, which still surprised Phil. He wasn't used to racers that watched tape, nor ones that watched with the intensity that Clint did. Clint would often go even longer than Phil, watching the same few frames multiple times. The others hadn't realized how lucky they were. Clint watched tape, spotted things that Phil didn't, and Natasha used that information to figure out their strategy for the race. Tony took care of the mech. Most of Phil's work was handled for him. 

Phil picked up his headset, turning it on. "FitzSimmons?"

"Neural handshake looks good," Simmons said. "We really need to run some tests to see how effective their routine is."

"You know, sometimes all that matters is that they think it helps," Phil pointed out.

Simmons snorted.

"Communication check," Fitz said. "Iron HawkSpider do you copy?"

"We copy," Natasha said.

"Coulson here," Phil said.

"Rhodey at two tower."

"Melinda over at three tower," Melinda said.

"Systems look good," Tones said. 

"You fix that third engine? It didn't look so good last race," Natasha said.

"Val got a replacement part, but…"

"Dubious, as to if it'll hold," Natasha finished for him. "Alright."

"Anyone else got sights on Jade Stranger?" Clint asked.

"Val's down there, what are you seeing?" Tones asked.

"It's drifting a bit to the right, I think they've got some mechanical problems," Clint said.

"Tones, give Val a text and see what she thinks?" Phil instructed.

"Will do," Tones said.

Bucky arched an eyebrow. 

"Val thinks it's a stabilizer," Tones said.

Phil covered the microphone. "Jade Stranger looks to be having trouble with its stabilizer."

Bucky nodded and started speaking into his microphone. 

As a tone came over headsets, followed by a mechanical voice. "The race will begin. DRAGN Units Fly in 3, 2, 1, GO!"

Phil couldn't hear the roar of engines, but he knew they were taking off. Three screens lit up in front of him. One was filled with diagnostics from Iron HawkSpider, another an aerial view of the race, along with a ranking of the racers. 

Phil kept an eye on the screen offering the occasional bit of advice as the pack spread out. He smiled when he saw Iron HawkSpider separate toward the end of the lead group along with Shieldfalcon. He picked up a pair of electrobinoculars about an hour and half into the race. He was able to pick up the lead racer and guided Iron HawkSpider into moving up two spots by the time they roared past the tower. Phil listed those behind them, able to give a warning that Psychotic Daggers was about to make a move and have Iron HawkSpider cut them off. 

They were soon out of sight and Phil continued to offer advice while using the screen for a bit.

"I have the lead in sight," Rhodey said.

"Operations are yours, I'm headed back to base," Phil said, taking off the headset and shutting down his operations as Bucky did the same. Together they headed back to their camp. Some spotters would stay in the tower for the full race, but Phil could do the same work from base and he trusted his other spotters to guide them during the time he was out of contact. 

*

Phil sipped his ale as he watched the two Shield teams interact. Shieldfalcon had secured their spot in World's with a win today and Iron HawkSpider had come in third, which had led to a small party to celebrate. Granted, Iron HawkSpider hadn't received notification of a slot in World's, but there were a few more slots available and more races. Some of those with slots secured weren't racing as they wanted time to ready themselves for the big race, which would make a win easier. 

"So what are your thoughts?" Maria asked.

"I'd talk to your pilots," Phil said. "There aren't too many races left, and, while I wouldn't be opposed to a little teamwork next week, I also know coming into World's fresh can make a difference."

"Could cause them to lose their edge," Maria said.

"So, how many are you supposed to have left?"

"Four,"

"Race two," Phil said. "Gives them a bit of break, but also makes sure they're ready."

Maria nodded. "That's actually where I was leading, though letting Steve and Sam have the final decision." 

"It's a tough one to make," Phil agreed. "You know I don't mind being a sounding board."

"I know," Maria said, moving to stand and look down at their combined teams. "You also like to watch a party, rather than participate."

Phil resisted the urge to roll his eyes, but his eyes drifted back to Clint. Natasha had come up next to him, one hand on the small of his back with Clint's arm draped across her shoulders. 

"He's handsome," Maria said. "Kind of a bad boy look."

"He's taken." Phil sighed. "Soulmates."

"That's a shame," Maria said. "Are they…?"

"Romantic, as far as I can tell," Phil said.

"Well, you could…"

"No."

"You don't know what I was going to say."

"You were going to suggest I switch teams, but there's no way. These two are going to be World Champions."

"If they get in and you're right, you're going to need some teamwork to get you in the bubble, especially with that hunk of junk…"

"Hey, you don't get to talk about her like that," Phil objected.

Maria gave him a long look.

"Only I am," Phil stated, because he was the one trying to get something new in. 

Maria rolled her eyes. "Right, well, still…"

"I'm not denying we couldn't use the help, but if we can get a win, I think we'll get one of the last slots."

"Do you think you will win?"

"Yes," Phil said. 

Maria gave him a long look. "Alright, we'll see what happens."

Phil nodded.

"Hey Coulson!" Clint's voice yelled. "Bring Maria, Iron HawkSpider vs Shieldfalcon in Flippy Cup!"

"Are you serious?" Phil said, looking down at him and finding that the tables were being set up.

"Come on, we need you!"

Phil glanced over at Maria. 

"Yeah, let's go," Maria said, heading toward the steps.

Phil found himself wedged between Clint and Tones as cups were filled. Clint gave him a grin. "What were you talking about up there?"

"Trying to decide if we're breaking or racing," Maria answered from across the table.

"What are we doing?" Sam asked.

"I was thinking of dropping two of the four left," Maria answered. "Of course, that leaves Iron HawkSpider all by themselves."

"So?" Natasha said. "We've been on our own before."

"You need a win for World's," Maria stated. "I think today was your highest rank?"

"Yeah, but we're pretty consistent with that third," Clint pointed out

"Still," Maria stated. "Team strategy should push you into first."

Phil glanced over to see Clint and Natasha sharing a look, before she leaned to look down the table. "Are we ready?"

She lifted her glass, clinking it against Steve's as Clint lifted his against Bucky's. They continued until all the cups were up. Natasha said a little chant and then down her cup. Setting it on the table and knocking it until it landed upside down on the table. It took a few tries and then Clint started chugging his beer. It only took Clint one try to flip his cup and Phil knew that and was ready to chug almost immediately. Then trying to flip his own. He lost count of the times and then Melinda started chugging on hers.

An arm landed on his shoulders as Clint leaned over, shouting encouragements down the table.

*

_"Are you going to be okay?" Natasha asked as they wandered the woods near their home._

_Clint glanced over at his soulmate and hesitated. "I… I don't know."_

_"Talking helps?"_

_Clint studied her. "Maybe. I thought I left Trick behind when I joined up with you. He's found us three times now and he keeps trying to mess with the Pixie. If you hadn't caught that the fuel line had been cut..."_

_"We'd be dead," Natasha stated. "I'm not sure he wants you dead?"_

_Clint arched an eyebrow._

_"There's a good chance he already had you sold or had someone interested in you," Natasha said._

_Clint gaped at her for a long moment. "Well, that makes me feel a lot better."_

_"Sorry," Natasha murmured. "It just would account for why he keeps coming after you or it could be he doesn't want a witness or maybe his male pride is insulted, because you got away."_

_"Male pride?" Clint asked, arching an eyebrow._

_"Yes, a man's ego is horrible and will drive him to ruin. Regardless, you were some sort of investment."_

_"Well, it's not like he's asked for a payoff!"_

_"Alexi hasn't mentioned it, however…" Natasha trailed off as she thought. "It's possible, he has and Alexi refused. Trick strikes me as the type that would keep coming back."_

_"Yeah," Clint agreed, running a hand through his hair. "At least this time, we caught him in time."_

_"We think, but that's why it's at Pym's," Natasha said._

_Clint sighed. Pym was a better mechanic and they'd dropped the Pixie off at his place to have him go over it and make sure that Trick hadn't done something that they hadn't been able to find. It was better to have another set of eyes on the mech._

_"You did good with spotting at the race," Natasha said, referring to their race. "Got the tell, it's why we won it."_

_"Only because you figured out how to handle it when I saw it," Clint pointed out._

_Natasha smiled and nodded her head. "Well, we are partners."_

_"Soulmates," Clint agreed, holding out his hand to her._

_Natasha eyed it, before taking it and letting herself be pulled into a hug. Clint sighed softly at the physical connection. It wasn't something they did very often and Clint chalked it up to Natasha being younger than him. They were soulmates and maybe one day they'd be able to move on to the next stage in their relationship, but Natasha wasn't ready and Clint would wait for her._

_"Hope was flirting with you again," Natasha murmured. "Such a lady killer."_

_"Hey, I'm a monogamous type fellow," Clint said, trying to be assuring. "Besides, her dad would totally overcharge us if I messed around with her."_

_Natasha chuckled. "Keeping it in the pants for the discount?"_

_"To avoid the 'You Fucked My Daughter' Surcharge," Clint agreed. "He'll be able to fix the Pixie right?"_

_"Of course, he will. He's Pym," Natasha reminded him. "He's one of the best. Plus…"_

_"Alexi trusts him," Clint said with her, which earned him a finger jabbed between the ribs. He squirmed away, releasing Natasha._

_"Ow!" Clint whined._

_Natasha rolled her eyes. "Baby." Then started heading back to base. "Come on, we need to get some sleep. Alexi is probably going to want us to work on synchronization tomorrow."_

_"So much fun," Clint said, falling in step with her as they headed back to the main building. The garage was empty with the Pixie at Pym's. Everything was dark and it seemed like everyone had already headed to bed._

_"Night Nat," Clint said, lingering outside of his room. "You, uh, wanna crash with me?"_

_Natasha gave him an odd look, but shook her head. She went into her own room._

_Clint sighed, wondering if he was doing something wrong. Soulmates were supposed to be romantic, right? He grabbed the book he was reading and curled up with it. The book was about the history of the Dragons and how the World Championship came about. It was dry and Clint struggled to read it, but tonight, well it would be nice to focus on something else besides the disaster that was his life._

_He'd gotten up to the big Dragon crash that had wiped out one of the Mourlandic Empire islands. The book went into detail about the crash and the fire that raged, Clint swore that he could smell the smoke. Then he started coughing and realized the smoke he was smelling was real._

_"Shit!" Clint growled, scrambling to his feet and jamming his shoes on. He darted across the hall, noticing the glow of flames coming front he stairwell, but he couldn't leave Natasha. "Natasha! Wake up!"_

_"Clint?" Natasha responded. "I'm trying to sleep."_

_"Fire!" He said, grabbing some of clothes and tossing them at her._

_"Fire?" Natasha questioned, perking up. She pulled on the shoes near her bed, gathering a quick pile and a bag that she kept near her bed. Together they made their way downstairs to find the garage engulfed in flames._

_"The others…" Natasha said._

_Clint pulled her arm toward the exit. "We can't go through there!"_

_They hurried out the door and around the building to where another entrance was. As they approached, well, something combusted. They were knocked off of their feet._

_Clint's ears rang as he struggled to his feet screaming for Natasha. She was also getting up, they turned and looked at their home fully engulfed in the fires._

_Natasha grabbed his face, forcing him to look at her as she said something. There was a ringing in his ears. It took a moment, before he realized what she was mouthing 'Run'._

_Clint nodded and together they ran._

*

Phil hit submit to his complaint request, because Earthen Rhino had pulled a downright dangerous and highly illegal move to beat Iron HawkSpider. Four races and second place almost every single time, but one of those was with a contact to the High Altitude Battery on the fritz. Today's loss was caused by Earthen Rhino's illegal maneuver. 

There was a knock on the door and he was expecting Maria or Clint to discuss strategy, when he told them to come in. Instead it was Pepper, who gave him a long look. "Remember how I said, I'd give you a head's up when they're about to do something stupid."

Phil frowned. "What are they about to do?"

"They would like to go to a local race."

"That doesn't sound like trouble," Phil said.

Pepper didn't meet his eyes. "You would think that, but I've told you. I'm going to start working on the story and getting bail funds together, just in case."

Phil frowned, before standing up. He went over to his closet and changed into something that would be a bit more acceptable at the local fairgrounds. He went next door and knocked on it, Steve and Sam were very level headed, it might be beneficial to have that along as well. He needed to clear it with their manager first. Maria called him into the room. He leaned in to see Bucky seated across from Maria. "Hey, I'm going to take the team to local fairgrounds, trying to decompress after today's race. Wanted to know if you wanted to bring your team?"

"I'm not interested, but it's up to the others if they want to go," Maria said, eyes narrowing a bit.

"I am," Bucky said, standing up from where he was seated. "Do you need me for anything else?"

"No," Maria said, looking at him. "You've provided adequate details for my complaint." She arched an eyebrow.

"I saw it myself and put it in. I'm hoping one of the other teams will put in some complaints as well, so it's not just Shield."

"I might head down to a few of the cantinas, see if we can get a few other complaints sent in," Maria stated.

Phil nodded. "Better if you do that."

"Better if I could get someone else to do that, but…" Maria stated. Phil nodded, they were both Shield and a Shield win would benefit both teams. "The good news is we tend to register complaints if we see it. Other teams might be willing."

Phil nodded. The politics of the DRAGN Racing was something that Phil hated about the sport, but it needed to be done. Bucky followed Phil out of the room.

"Fairgrounds, really?" Bucky asked.

"Apparently the team likes to go. Want to see if Steve and Sam want to join us?"

"Yeah," Bucky said, peeling off to find his teammates. Phil headed toward where the smaller ground vehicles were readied. He caught Clint's voice along with a few of the others.

"You're sure?"

"Of course, I'm sure," Valkyrie said. "Have I ever been wrong?"

"No," Natasha replied. "Tones?"

"I need to go over the DRAGN," Tones stated. "We've got one more race and I don't want the contacts to come loose on the high altitude battery again or anything else."

Phil couldn't make out what was said, but they sounded vaguely affirmative. 

"Good luck, be smart," Tones said.

Phil rounded the corner to find both Clint and Natasha dressed in what Phil would assume was their oldest clothes. The material of Clint's pants looked so worn that it must be soft. 

"Oh hey Phil," Tones said. "I was going to go over the DRAGN, before we packed up to head to the next one."

"Excellent," Phil said, meeting Clint's and Natasha's eyes. "You two going somewhere?"

"Fairgrounds," Clint grunted.

"Wanted to reminisce," Natasha said, wrapping an arm around Clint and draping herself. Phil pushed down the embarrassment of lusting after another's soulmate. "Val is coming with us. We'll be back before we haul out tomorrow."

Phil nodded. "Actually that sounds like fun. Mind if I tag along?"

Phil caught the split second of tension that went through their bodies, their expressions barely changing. Damn, Phil, realized just how in control those two could be. 

"If you really want to," Clint said. "Mainly we're going to eat food that's super unhealthy for us."

"See if Clint will win me a prize," Natasha said, turning to look at Clint and cooing.

"Those games are rigged," Phil pointed out.

"Only if you don't know the tricks," Clint replied with a grin. He looked down at Natasha. "Of course, I'll win you something. Will you win me something?"

"Well, you've taught me all the tricks, of course, I will," Natasha said as Clint rocked them a bit.

The display was uncomfortable, but Phil glanced back towards Val, who was watching him more than the other two. He arched an eyebrow, tilting his head toward the couple.

"There's supposed to be a fireworks show," Val stated as if that was her reason for putting up with the lovey dovey crap that Natasha and Clint were trying to sell right now. Which sealed his thoughts that, yes, this was a display to make Phil uncomfortable and back out.

"Sounds like fun," Phil said as the voices of Steve, Sam, and Bucky drifted down the hall. 

Phil glanced down toward them. "Gentlemen, we're going to the fair, care to join us?"

"Yeah, sounded like fun," Steve said.

Phil glanced back to see the trio facing him with narrowed glances. He couldn't resist the urge to smirk. He put on his best sheepish expression as the other men rounded the corner. "Sorry, guess I ruined your date night."

There was no exchange of looks, but they were soon loading the van up and somehow Natasha ended up next to him. She leaned in, brushing something that Phil was sure didn't actually exist to whisper. "Guess I didn't realize how jealous you are of my relationship with Clint." She pulled back as Phil regarded her with wide eyes, refusing to say anything incriminating. Natasha nodded as she turned, because Phil was certain his guilt was written all over his face. She slid into a seat next to Clint and Phil climbed into the seat next to Valkyrie, who was driving.

Clint and Natasha chatted with the men in the backseat about their time racing IMPs and PIX-Es. Phil listened with half an ear, trying to figure out exactly what they were up to. They got to the grounds and unloaded. He hung back, catching Steve's eye. They both fell out of step with the group letting them get ahead. "Can you keep an eye on Val?" Phil requested.

"I can, but why?" 

"Long story, but I have a feeling if trouble is going to happen, it's going to involve my team," Phil stated.

"Are you expecting trouble?"

"Unfortunately," Phil said with a sigh. Steve nodded and they paid their fees to get into it. Phil lingered, waiting for Val to separate from Clint and Natasha. He hung back, before following the couple as they strolled through the carnival. He couldn't help but feel guilty as he watched them. Natasha's comment gave him some doubts, except he had Pepper's comments to back him. If he hadn't, he probably would be backing off, chalking his suspicions up to the fact that he was attracted to Clint. 

The pair stopped at various games and some food and Phil realized that they were slowly making their way to the racers’ area. Phil waited until they were close and then watched as they slipped into the area with no one stopping them. Phil followed after, taking a similar path to what the pair had taken.

The two were moving with intent and purpose, scanning the various trailers until they came to a stop. Phil followed their looks to a trailer where a dark haired man was pressed up against a young woman with lighter brown hair. He glanced back at Natasha and Clint and saw Clint moving toward the pair.

Phil drifted closer.

"She's not for sale," the man said and Phil felt his eyes widen, because surely Clint wasn't trying to sleep with that woman. The girl didn't react.

"C'mon, she's almost braindead, how much?"

The man moved away toward Clint as they began to argue, drawing attention. Phil almost missed Natasha slipping in and sliding an arm through the girl's arm and guiding her away. The girl didn't resist and didn't show any reaction.

Phil backed away and moved to intercept the ladies. He came up next to them. "Do I want to know why you're kidnapping someone?"

"Not kidnapping, rescuing," Natasha corrected in a low tone. She glanced back. "Can you get her back to the vehicle?"

"Where are you going?" Phil asked.

"To back Clint up," Natasha replied.

"I don't want to be an accessory to your…"

"Look at her Phil, she's got Ensy."

Phil glanced over and yes, there was no reaction. She definitely had Ensy. "That doesn't mean…"

"When she snaps out of it, she can make the choice to come back," Natasha growled. "We won't rape her. Can't say the same for the douchebag back there."

Phil frowned, before nodding once. Natasha had a point. She disappeared back into the crowd and he headed back to their transport, glancing back every once in a while. The girl didn't react at all. Late stages, Phil realized, she shouldn't be racing with whoever she has been and the fact that they were continuing to partner with her showed that they had no concern for the girl's well being. 

He made it back to the car, finding Valkyrie waiting for them.

"Where's Clint and Tasha?" 

"Back there somewhere," Phil gestured.

"Well, you got Skye," Val said, coming up and looking her over. "C'mon, hun, it's time to take a nap." She guided the girl, Skye, into the van and laid her down, covering her with a blanket. The girl went easily enough and Val shut the door.

"What the hell?" Phil exclaimed.

"Clint and Natasha wanted to put some good in the world. Especially after the race," Val shrugged.

"By kidnapping?!"

"Look, we're going to let her sleep it off. See if the Ensy hasn't completely killed her brain. If it hasn't, then she gets to decide what she wants to do. If it has… Well, we've got a place and she won't end up as a sex doll."

Phil opened his mouth up to object, but stopped. "Sex doll? Those stories are true?"

Val nodded.

"Why?" Phil asked.

"Why wouldn't we?" Clint's voice came from behind them. "We're decent people and we care about others."

Phil turned to see him and found a bruised face and bloody shirt. Natasha didn't look like they'd touched her. 

"We got law coming after him?" Val asked. "I'll run you three back. Phil can wait for the others…"

Phil's eyes widened slightly.

Natasha glanced back. "We better, he's going to realize that Skye is gone."

"How do you know her name?"

"Val scouted the place," Clint said as Val spoke. "I checked the place."

Phil sighed. "Alright, Val you can wait. I'm going to take these two back, we need to have a talk."

Val opened her mouth to object, before nodding. Clint and Natasha climbed in as Phil went around to the driver's side. He started the vehicle up and pulled away. 

'She's out like a light," Natasha said, checking on Skye. "Ask."

"How long has this been going on?"

"Since we've been together in some ways," Clint stated. 

"Well, when one of us was almost dolled…" Natasha stated.

Phil nodded, feeling a bit guilty. He knew they'd both come from rough upbringings, but he hadn't realized it. Natasha certainly seemed to know the signs, because it happened to her. "So, what, are you just going around saving people? What happens when your faces become more well known?"

"Then we start trying to get laws made," Clint stated.

Phil glanced back in the mirror to see Clint's serious face. "You want…?" No, they were always whispering about something or other. They were also super budgeted and Shield was paying them well. He knew they scrimped and saved. "Have you invested in this?"

"Takes a lot of money to start a charity for a cause that no one else seems to care about," Natasha said, looking out the window.

Phil nodded. "So, your end goal is…"

"Moving all sex dolls out of prostitution and into Care facilities."

"Getting them treatment for those that aren't completely gone and trying to find a way to bring them back if they are."

"Ensy checks at all levels of racing."

"Rather hard to do with illegal racing, but…"

"Which you also used to do," Phil muttered.

"And we'd trade our winnings for almost dolls. How do you think we got Kate?" Clint asked.

Phil shook his head and then he realized what Clint had said. "Wait, Kate? You picked her up while working for Shield? You were illegal racing?"

"Well, Mace was an idiot." Clint said. 

"I'm aware of your opinion of him," Phil muttered. "You could have lost the contract with Shield if you'd been caught though!"

"We weren't sure we were going to last with Shield until you came on as our manager," Natasha stated with a slight shrug.

Phil resisted the urge to feel touched by that statement, but he was. He genuinely liked the pair, even if he was jealous that Natasha was Clint's soulmate. 

"Are you mad?" Natasha asked. "Going to report us?"

"No," Phil said. "While I don't necessarily agree with how you're doing this, I understand why. Probably part of it is therapy."

"Partly," Clint said. 

Was it bad that Clint protecting his partner was a turn on? Phil was doomed. "So we need to come up with a better idea on how to handle this." He paused considering everything that he knew. "Pepper is running the financials of your charity?"

Natasha nodded. "To some degree. One of the people we saved is studying to take it over."

"She's done her own raids." Clint said with a smirk. "We do try and find places for them."

Phil nodded. "How many stay?"

"Not many, we've got contacts," Natasha admitted. "Kate wants to be a pilot and she and Clint are actually compatible, so…"

"Really?" Phil asked, arching an eyebrow.

"She doesn't want to lose her skills, so we fly the PIX-E occasionally on practice fields," Clint stated. "She's pretty good."

"So if something happens to me…" Natasha said.

"Don't even," Clint said. "We're doing this together. It's you and me."

"I know," Natasha said. "But being around Shieldfalcon makes me think about these things. We're fucked if you get hurt."

Clint snorted. "Eh, I'm sure we'd find you someone. In fact, I think you and Phil would be compatible."

"Really?" Natasha asked.

"Yeah," Clint said with a nod. "Well, also Barnes, but if he could race, he'd be piloting."

"I highly doubt that."

"Please, he fascinates you."

"I'm not the only one with a fascination."

Phil glanced back to catch Clint's wild eyed expression. He found himself repeating, "A fascination?"

Natasha hummed, but said nothing. The rest of the trip was spent in mostly silence. They climbed out with Clint reaching back to pick up Skye. Phil was a bit surprised to see Rhodey and Mac coming out of the woodwork. Both exchanged a panicked look and attempted to look innocent as Rhodey headed toward him. Phil ignored the babble as he realized that yes, Rhodey was trying to guide him away from the transport.

"I'm aware of the girl," Phil stated.

"What girl?" Rhodey asked.

Phil gave him a blank look.

Rhodey sighed and stepped back. Mac had already lifted the girl out of the van. 

"I'll put her in a room," Mac stated. "Keep watch over her."

"Thanks," Clint said.

"C'mon, let's get some ice for your face," Rhodey stated, grabbing Clint's arm and pulling him away.

That left Phil alone with Natasha. He looked over at her, who was studying him.

"So Phil, are you all in?"

"Does that mean no more secrets?"

Natasha's eyes narrowed as she considered the answer. "I'll have to talk to Clint about that one. It would mean only two secrets at most. At least for us, pretty sure Tones is hiding something that only Pepper and Rhodey know about, but..." She shrugged. 

Phil sighed. "You let me know what Clint says and I'll consider it."

"Fair," Natasha said. "You better get back there for the others."

Phil nodded, heading back to the transport to go and get the other team and Val. This whole day had been a clusterfuck.

*

"Is this common?" Phil asked as they settled into the home base. Their season was done and it looked like their objection for Earthen Rhino's maneuver was going to be turned down. Skye had slept all that night, while they packed up, and on the trip back.

"In extreme cases," Natasha said. "It means she was close to losing her mind completely."

Phil nodded, glancing at Clint, who had a black eye and busted nose. The bandage over his nose did not detract from his looks. He already knew they had a place for her, if she didn't wake up. "So… how long do you wait?"

"We've called Bruce in," Clint said. "He'll make the… Her fingers just twitched."

Phil nodded. "What?"

Natasha was already slipping past them and into the room. Phil glanced over as Clint took a step sideways to bring him up against Phil's side. "So how much have you figured out?"

"About you two?"

"Yep."

"I think it's obvious that one of you had Ensy and an uncaring partner," Phil said. "I have a feeling you saved Natasha from a similar fate to our young Skye."

"Right, Natasha…" Clint murmured.

"Did I get it wrong?" Phil asked, glancing over at him.

"Some of the details," Clint said. 

Phil nodded. He gently elbowed Clint. "Didn't think I scouted a pair of heroes."

"You know we send some of 'em to your buddy Sitwell. A lot give up on their dreams of being a pilot after this."

"Really."

"Yeah, worse the Ensy, the more likely," Clint explained. "Probably has to do with the best way to treat it is to not pilot for a long period."

"Is that what happened?"

"Yeah, Nat and I couldn't see if we were drift compatible for a couple of months after finding one another."

"Must have been a relief, once you were able to."

"It was a relief when we drifted, properly."

"You talk to Nat, how many secrets are you going to be keeping?" Phil asked. He hadn't wanted to ask that, but it slipped out.

"I think we decided only 'Lies of Omission' provided it wasn't a big deal," Clint admitted. "You going to be all in?"

"Yeah," Phil said, meeting Clint's sideway look with one of his own. "You two are… something."

Clint snorted. "I guess that would cover it. It's only for our secrets. You still have to figure out what's going on with Tones and the other two."

"That's fair," Phil said. "Maybe we can sit down and have all our secrets out." He fell silent as Skye bolted upright in the bed.

"Where am I?" Skye asked.

Clint chuckled. "She's going to be fine."

"You're just outside Stiosxea in Southern Uther," Natasha said, gently.

"Where's Grant?" Skye asked.

"Back at the fair," Natasha replied. "As far as I know. You had some pretty bad Ensy Sickness and unfortunately, I know there are people that take advantage of people with that."

Clint elbowed him and Phil glanced over at him. "Let's give those two some privacy, huh?" 

Phil nodded and followed Clint out of the viewing room and out into the hallway. 

"She seems to know what she's doing."

"Yeah, Natasha has a knack for it." Clint scratched at the back of his head. "I'm kind of bad at it. I ended up being there with Kate and she just about punched me."

"Pretty sure Kate is over it."

"Pretty sure that's because I fly with her in the Pixie."

Phil grinned. "Not many would be willing to do that?"

"Kid needs practice, she's going to find another partner for races, but I can give her a chance… Natasha had a guy that did that for her. He was like… a null in the drift."

"Really?" Phil said, squinting a bit.

"Yeah, Alexi, I drifted with him a couple of times."

"You two were on your own, when I found you though?"

"Yeah, well, people had a problem with us grabbing Ensy kids from their _partners_ " The last word dripped with disgust and Phil found himself nodding. 

"Hey," Melinda said coming around the corner. "There you are, you've got a call."

Phil nodded. "I'll catch up to you and Natasha in a bit, okay?"

Clint nodded.

Phil hustled up to his office and picked up the phone. "Phil Coulson?"

"Mr. Coulson, this is Obidiah Stane with the DRAGN World Prix Association."

"What can I do for you Mr. Stane?"

"Well, we've reviewed your complaint against Earthen Rhino"

"And?"

"It's been rejected. However, Royal Robin has suffered an accident."

"That's unfortunate."

"Yes, well, a spot is open and while your complaint was rejected, the Association was in agreement that you should take the open slot. You'll have about a week to get to Haltash in Darkia."

"I'm well aware of the time frame. We're going to need to move out pretty quick," Phil said. 

"Do you need to check to see if you can do it?"

"No," Phil said, knowing that Clint and Natasha would fly the DRAGN there itself to be part of the race. He'd make everything work for his team, it was his job after all. "We'd be honored to accept the open position." 

"Excellent."

"Now, I'm sure there are some pleasantries, but I hope you'll excuse me, I need to call everyone back and start getting them moving."

"I understand. Good Luck, Mr. Coulson."

"Thank you," Phil said and hung up the phone. He took a deep breath and went over to the loudspeaker, flipping the switch for the whole building. He normally wouldn't do this. "Attention, crew of the Iron HawkSpider. While normally, I would discuss this with Clint and Natasha first, I feel that time is of the essence. Due to some political maneuvering, we're going to Worlds. Meet in the garage in fifteen or sooner. FitzSimmons start putting the Iron HawkSpider back into place."

Phil stood and headed for the garage himself. He opened the door to see Clint staring at him. "Seriously?"

Phil nodded. "Just got the call, we need to move."

Clint grinned at him and stepped aside, so they could start walking down the hallway together. "Yeah, we do. They accepted our complaint?"

"Rejected, but another team got hurt, so…"

"We got what we wanted, even though the paperwork says differently."

Phil nodded. "Exactly."

*

_They came up behind Pym's building, tired and worn from walking through the woods to Pym's. Natasha called a halt just on the edge._

_"We're not going in?" Clint asked._

_"Not yet," Natasha said. "We don't know that fire wasn't set."_

_"So…?" Clint said, watching the building. "You think it was Pym."_

_"No."_

_Clint considered a moment. "Trick? But he doesn't know where we live."_

_"He didn't, but maybe he followed us?" Natasha said._

_"I thought Alexi drove like crazy to make sure we aren't followed."_

_Natasha growled. "I don't know, but I'd rather be cautious."_

_"Okay," Clint agreed, knowing they were both tired. They'd heard sirens as they'd ran from the fire and for a brief moment debated going back, but ultimately decided to keep moving. They'd found a place to sleep. After that, they decided to head to Pym's as they'd need the PIX-E._

_Everything seemed to be normal at Pym's with both Pym and his daughter Hope working on machines in the yard. Finally, Natasha relented and they approached the back of the building._

_"You're alive!" Hope yelled suddenly._

_"Keep it down," Natasha commanded, but it had attracted Pym's attention and he came around to investigate. They were ushered inside with Pym closing window shades as Hope fixed them some food and drink._

_"Eat first," Pym ordered and Clint happily dug into the food offered._

_"Want to tell us what you've heard?" Natasha asked, before shoving a bite of food into her mouth._

_"No one survived," Hope said._

_"Hope," Pym said with a sigh in his voice. "They're assuming everyone is dead. You had fuel on site, there was an explosion at one point."_

_"We know," Clint said._

_"Explosion brought in the authorities, it took a while to put out the blaze. No signs that anyone survived it," Pym said._

_"Does it look set?" Natasha asked._

_Pym shrugged. "Too early to tell. Things have to cool, before it can be investigated. You think it was?"_

_"Did you find anything wrong with the Pixie?" Natasha asked._

_"No," Pym said, frowning. "But what does that have to do with anything?"_

_"Trick was messing with our stuff. Maybe instead of messing with it, he put a tracker on the trailer."_

_"So he followed us and burned the place down?" Clint finished, looking at her._

_Natasha nodded._

_"That's a theory," Pym said, taking a seat. "I haven't heard from Alexi or the others." He drummed his fingers on the table. "You're welcome to stay here for a bit."_

_Clint glanced at Natasha, who nodded. "Thank you."_

_They ate in silence and then Natasha and Clint took turns telling them what had happened and that they'd stayed out of sight in the woods. After the meal, they were given a chance to get clean and then shown a room._

_"We'll have to share, I guess," Natasha said, climbing in._

_"No worries, I'm wiped," Clint said, laying down._

_"We need a plan."_

_Clint studied her. "You have an idea."_

_"He's found us almost everywhere we've gone."_

_"He might think we're dead though."_

_"Yeah, but if we keep racing, he'll find us again," Natasha said. "I think we need to switch continents. Go over to Delenia, start fresh."_

_Clint sighed and considered it, before nodding. "It'll be harder, but I don't remember Trick having contacts over there."_

_"We'll do a few races here to get funds and then go," Natasha suggested._

_"I think we should wait a week or two here, see if the others show up."_

_"We'll talk to Pym, see how long we can have some free hospitality," Natasha agreed._

_"You can work on Pixies, I'll do some other chores around here that might help extend his hospitality."_

_"Agreed," Natasha said and yawned._

_Clint curled a bit closer and slowly they fell asleep with a plan in place._


	4. The Drift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Good Morning Race Fans! It's here the first round, the first leg. One hundred of the world's best pilots are about to be set off. These pilots have three legs to prove their worth, before half of them go home! Then another three legs to make it into the top 25, three more legs to make it into the top ten and then... well there's one leg left for all the marbles! Now the big news, Royal Robin is out. Iron HawkSpider is in. To be honest, I think the council got lucky with Royal Robin falling ill. Earthen Rhino's move in that last race was dangerous and highly illegal. Iron HawkSpider deserves to be here. Earthen Rhino should have been disqualified and thus not make into this race. It's a travesty, but Iron HawkSpider definitely earned a spot here. Now, I don't think they'll win, but they deserve the shot._

_"Hey, Spiderhawk," Valkyrie said, stepping out of their tent. "I got a lead on a Dragon."_

_"Seriously?" Clint said._

_Valkyrie nodded. "Going up on auction."_

_"It's complete? It runs?"_

_"It's a junker, but I know you two have been putting away your pennies for such an occasion."_

_"We've got a race tomorrow," Natasha said._

_"You won't be able to make it, if you race," Valkyrie said. "It's a drive, we need to pack it up and go."_

_Clint looked over at Natasha, trying to determine what she was thinking. They needed the money, but the big money was in racing Dragons._

_"You want to go," Natasha stated._

_"That's the dream," Clint pointed out. "Val wouldn't be here if she didn't think it was affordable."_

_"This is a sure thing?" Natasha asked, looking over at Val._

_Val nodded. "There is a Dragon going on auction, not much interest in it. I could be wrong about the interest though, but it exists. I wouldn't suggest that you miss a race if it didn't exist."_

_Natasha nodded. "I know I just… I had to be sure."_

_"Are we doing this?" Clint asked, arching an eyebrow._

_"Right, well, let's pack it up then. Can you two handle that? I'll go withdraw, see if I can charm them into giving back some of the entry fee?"_

_"Sounds like a plan," Clint said with a nod. "C'mon Val, let's get this going."_

_Together Clint and Val packed up their Pixie onto the truck and took down their tent using it also as tarp for the Pixie as well. Natasha returned as they had finished stashing everything away. The three of them loaded in with Val taking the wheel as she drove them.  
_

*

"Can we talk?" Natasha said, appearing suddenly at Phil's shoulder. 

Phil glanced at Maria, who made a little shooing motion without looking up for her datapad. "Looks like it."

He followed Natasha out and downstairs to where a common room was located. They slipped inside and Phil paused seeing Clint sprawled out on the couch. He shifted at Natasha's urging, eyes closing as Natasha dug her fingers into his hair. Phil moved to take a seat across from the pair.

"So, you wanted to talk?" Phil asked.

"We noticed that you told Maria that Daisy…" Because Skye had told them her actual name was Daisy. Phil wasn't quite sure he believed that, but he was going with it. "...Was a new tech that you hired."

"I did, she appears to be qualified. At least Mac says she's been a lot of help."

Natasha smiled. "We thought that meant you were in?"

"Yeah, Coulson, you in?" Clint drawled, looking at him through slitted eyes.

"Yes," Phil said. "I don't agree with the practice, so what were you thinking?"

"We've been funneling a good portion of our paychecks into a fund to start up a charity," Natasha explained. "Our plan is when we win Worlds to go public with our viewpoint."

Phil nodded. "That's assuming someone doesn't spot you rescuing damsels in distress."

Clint snorted and muttered something that Phil didn't quite catch.

Natasha poked him. "We don't do it that often anymore. We were…"

"Pissed about how we lost," Clint said, meeting Phil's eyes. "Shoulda seen it coming."

"Clint…" Phil started.

"Don't, I shoulda, but I didn't and we thought it was our last chance for this year, so we needed to blow off some steam."

"We actually have some other people doing that now," Natasha admitted. "Not as many as we'd like, but we've been able to save some people."

Phil nodded. "Pepper handling your financials?"

"Personal and those," Clint replied, grinning at him.

"Any ever go back?" Phil asked.

"A few, we move on when it happens," Clint said. "They'd give anything to be pilots, even though they never will with their partners."

"I'd like to look at them, if you don't mind? Maybe come up with a plan for if you get spotted and when you decide to go public."

Clint and Natasha shared a look, before nodding. 

"I'm assuming Mac is aware, your old team…" Phil said, considering it. "Kate."

"Pretty much," Clint said.

"We don't know what Tones is up to, beyond building a manufacturing company from the ground up."

"Quickly," Clint added. "And efficiently."

"He's got history somewhere, but I'm not sure where. I have suspicions, but nothing proven."

Phil nodded and was unable to leave it alone. "Your biggest suspect?"

"Stane," Natasha said. "He twitched when you said it was him that called you. He was paying attention to every word you said after that, but trying and failing to look like he wasn't. At least to me."

"Well, they won't be coming around us, unless we make it past the first cut." Only the top 50 out of 100 would fly after the third leg of the race and only 25 of those DRAGNs would continue after the sixth leg. There would be one more cut after the ninth for the final leg, in which only ten DRAGNs would fly. 

"Probably not," Natasha agreed. "And really not until after the second cut."

"Anything else?" Phil asked.

Natasha and Clint shared a long look, before Natasha sighed. "I'm ace, maybe demi?"

Clint bolted up to look at Natasha. "Demi? Since when?"

"I've felt an attraction for a few people. It's new," Natasha admitted, looking at him. "Not enough to be sure, and frankly, it's… odd."

Clint snorted, flopping back, so that his feet were Natasha's lap. "Yeah, that would be odd for you. I want to ask who, but I know you won't tell me until you're good and ready."

Natasha patted Clint's leg and smiled at him.

Phil stared at them. "I'm sorry, I'm confused as to why you're telling me this?"

"Because we're soulmates," Clint said. "And they say soulmates can be platonic, but how many actually are?"

"Not many," Phil agreed.

"We tried once, to have sex…"

"It was horrible," Clint finished. "Like kissing my brother."

Natasha regarded him. "We might need to let Phil know about that potential problem."

Clint groaned. "I haven't heard from Barney in years, since we left Sigbeorn."

"Yes, and we will potentially be going back to that fucking country."

Clint sighed and looked at Phil. "Barney sucks and I haven't heard from him in forever. I'd be more worried about Trick."

"Trick?" Phil repeated.

"He burned our team, we did a few PIX-E races, just enough to jump continents," Natasha added.

"Right, so we'll need extra security?"

Clint nodded. "He might have changed, but probably not."

"Maybe, I'll do some digging - Trick what?"

"Buck Chisholm."

Phil nodded, making a mental note. "Is that it?"

"Phil," Natasha said, gently. "Weren't you listening? While I have a lot of fucks to give for Clint, there is no fucking between us."

Clint snorted. "Delicate."

Phil looked between them, recalling Natasha's comment the night of the fair. "Oh…" Natasha's grin widened. "Oh…" He looked at Clint, who was looking at him, before looking back at Natasha. "Are you trying to set me up with your soulmate?"

Natasha stood, pushing Clint's feet off her lap and going over to him. She leaned over to cup Phil's cheek. "He really needs to be fucked. You've killed what little game he has." With that she slipped out of the room, leaving him alone with Clint. Clint, who was watching him, under hooded eyes.

"Have I really killed your game?"

"Used to be able to sneak out. You keep track of us better and Nat and I… Well, we're not advertising that we're platonic. I think a few people have figured it out… Maybe even Tones, but considering, he was the person that instigated our one try…"

Phil held up his hand. "How? Why?"

"We weren't drifting well, and he thought if we fucked, we'd find each other better. We tried, failed, went dancing…" Clint grinned. "Discovered that worked."

Phil smiled at that.

"But please, don't, don't think that because we let in on that secret that you need to do anything about my… lack of options. We told you, because we agreed no more secrets. Not that you have to do anything, even if I wouldn't turn it down, but definitely you don't need to."

"Yes, but Natasha tried to use my interest in you to throw me off your trail at the fair."

Clint blinked and tilted his head. "Your interest in... me?" He pointed at himself, looking surprised.

"You're a smart, kind, apparently a hero. Not to mention you're…" Phil gestured toward Clint.

"I'm…?"

"Ridiculously attractive?" Phil finished.

"Huh," Clint grunted, mouth hanging open. His eyes went to the door and then slid back to Phil. "So, how about we have dinner just the two of us? Discuss some strategy for the race and… other stuff?"

Phil felt his lips curl upward. "Sounds like a nice plan and just for the record, not in it just for the fucking."

Clint nodded. "Yeah, you called me 'smart', if you wanted to just fuck that wouldn't have made the list, but yeah, that sounds good to me."

*  
 _"This is a hunk of junk," Natasha said, looking over the metal form of the Dragon._

_"No, it's not," Clint said._

_Natasha looked over at him, feeling her eyebrow rise._

_"It's Marvel," Clint said. "Three time world championship Dragon."_

_Natasha sighed. "You know that had to do with the pilots…"_

_"I like to think we're as good as Carol Danvers and Nick Fury," Clint said, giving her a smile._

_"We're going to have to hire some mechanics," Natasha said. "Full time."_

_"Maybe get Val on some sort of contract to look for parts," Clint suggested._

_Nataha nodded, because they were going to need that._

_They continued walking around, noting the others around them. There were a couple of other groups around the area as well. Eventually, Natasha and Clint headed to where the bidding was going to be held._

_A dark haired man stepped in front of them. "Clint! Natasha! Fancy seeing you here."_

_Clint stepped back and eyed the man, before recognizing him as one of the mechanics they'd used. "Tones, right?"_

_Tones nodded. "Exactly. How's your Pixie?"_

_"Doing good," Natasha said. "We haven't had any problems with the Catalytic Inverter."_

_"Well, that's good," Tones said with an easy grin._

_Clint grinned at the mechanic. "Have you looked at the Dragon?"_

_Tones nodded. "Yeah, I have."_

_"Thoughts?" Natasha asked._

_Tones eyed them and was silent. "Needs updating."_

_"Is it worth buying?" Clint asked. "With the intention of racing it."_

_"You're here for it?" Tones asked._

_"Of course, we are." She frowned. "What are you here for?"_

_"Same reason as you," Tones answered. His eyes darted back and forth, meeting Clint's and flickering over toward Natasha's and then back again. "You're going to need a mechanic for it."_

_"Do you even have_ a _pilot?" Natasha asked. "You know you need two compatible pilots."_

_Tones sighed and then nodded. "I was going to ask you two, since I ran into you."_

_Clint glanced at Natasha and saw her getting ready for another salvo. She wasn't overly fond of Tones. Clint privately thought it was because Tones only came into their lives when Natasha had failed to fix their Pixie. Something that she'd taken great pride in. Clint reached over and rested a hand on her shoulder, she glanced over at him. "He's one of the best mechanics-" Clint increased his voice to speak over Tones' objections. "if not these best."_

_Natasha glanced back at Tones, before looking at Clint. "Your point?"_

_"We need a mechanic, he needs pilots. We've got more resources if we work together."_

_"Are you suggesting a partnership?" Tones asked. "I'd be…"_

_"You'd get one third share, Clint gets another third, and I get the final third," Natasha said._

_"So long as we add 'Iron' to the name," Tones said._

_"Deal," Natasha said, extending her hand._

_Tones shook it and then extended his hand to Clint, who shook it as well. "Let's go get us a DRAGN." He turned to lead the charge._

_"Let's hope I don't regret this," Natasha murmured._

_"Oh, we will until we win," Clint commented with a sage nod. Natasha flashed him a smile as they followed Tones to their future._

*

Phil watched as the third wave of DRAGNs took off for their first leg. He waited and then could see Clint's head nodding out of the corner of his eye. "See what you needed to see?"

"Yep," Clint said with a quick nod. "Hydra's racers are going to be tough to beat."

"You think so?" Phil asked.

"Yeah," Clint said. "I think we got it though."

"Your and Natasha's confidence…" Phil trailed off with a shake of his head.

"Mr. Coulson?" a voice said behind them.

Phil turned to meet someone that he'd only seen pictures of. "Mr. Stane, I would have thought you'd traveled with the first wave."

"I have little interest in seeing the Mourlandic Empire," Stane said. "I tend to skip around. I'll be in Uther as they come in and see the first two waves off, so I can catch the last wave coming into Orgathia. The Great Ocean Crossing is probably the most interesting part of the race."

"I'm afraid I'll miss that part. I have Orgathia in my rotation." He glanced at Clint. "I'm assuming that you have a plan for that?"

"Fly as fast possible," Clint replied.

"You look familiar," Stane said, looking at Clint.

"Clint Barton, Iron HawkSpider pilot," Clint said, extending his hand.

"Ah, the pilots that just barely made it in due to Royal Robin getting sick," Stane said, giving him a smug smile.

"Only because Earthen Rhino cheated and the council didn't have the balls to punish them," Clint replied back.

"Clint," Phil warned. "This is Obidiah Stane of Stane Industries. He has numerous machines in the race and how many parts?"

"Well, that's my opinion," Clint said, grudgingly.

"You're a man that sticks to his guns, aren't you?" Stane asked.

Clint nodded. "Pretty much."

Stane looked back at Phil. "I was hoping to see Pepper Potts."

Phil frowned. "She might have left, she's part of our advance team and was heading to Wrogan to ready it for us, but if you'd like to follow us back to the tent, you're more than welcome to."

"I'll give you a lift," Stane said and gestured for them to follow him. They headed out of the viewing box and to one of the private elevators to go down to the garage. They climbed into Stane's luxury vehicle. They slid into the vehicle with the privacy already up.

Stane pressed a button. "Mr. Ward, take us to Tent...?" Stane looked over at Phil.

"82," Phil supplied.

"Right away, Mr. Stane," Mr. Ward answered.

Phil chatted politely with Mr. Stane. Clint was silent and looked puzzled staring at the privacy screen. Phil let him be, choosing instead to talk to Stane, making a mental note to ask Pepper if she thought Stane might be willing to sponsor Clint and Natasha or put some money toward the team.

The car pulled up in front of the tent and they climbed out. Clint heading in.

"He gets antsy for his soulmate," Phil said, making an excuse to Stane.

Stane nodded. "I've heard that happens to some people. I, for one, am glad not to have to deal with that. Never found mine."

"Neither did I," Phil admitted, holding the door for Stane.

The garage was noisy and Phil scanned the DRAGN itself. He spotted Tones hanging out of one of the access panels. 

"Tones," Phil called out.

"Yeah, Phil?" Tones called.

"Did Pepper leave already?" Phil asked, glancing at Stane, who was staring up toward Tones with a curious look on his face.

"Yep, left for Wrogan and then on to Uther and well, all the other stops on the race."

"Thank you Tones," Phil said, before looking at Stane. "My apologies Mr. Stane, I did warn you that she might have left."

"It's alright, Mr. Coulson, I knew the risks," Stane said. "Thank you for your time."

"You're welcome." 

With that Stane turned and left. He glanced up to see Tones glaring down at the door. "Is there a problem?"

"I don't like that guy," Tones said, ducking into the access panel again. "And if you're thinking of getting involved with him, I'd advise against it."

"Thank you, I'll be sure to take a mechanic's opinion," Phil said, going to find Clint. He found Clint with Nat and Daisy.

"There's no way that he has any connections to Stane Industries, I mean besides buying parts for the IMP," Daisy said.

"It sounded like him," Clint said as Phil stepped in.

"Do I want to know?" Phil asked.

Clint and Nat exchanged a look, before Clint sighed. "Stane's driver sounded like Daisy's partner and they have the same last name."

Phil nodded, making a mental note. "Tones doesn't like Stane."

"Not surprised," Natasha said. "He's complained about how their quality has gone downhill enough times."

Clint stood up from his seat and wrapped an arm around Phil. "Weren't we going to grab a bite to eat?"

Phil leaned into it. Dating Clint was apparently like being friends with Clint, except a lot more physical contact apparently.

"I could…" Daisy started, but she fell silent.

"C'mon," Clint said, tugging him out of the room. "Is it weird how comfortable some of this stuff feels?"

"A little bit, but we've known each for years now…" Phil reminded him.

"So we've got the rest of the day, we could…" Clint suggested.

"No, I don't want to distract you," Phil said. "After…"

Clint frowned and sighed. "Promise?"

"Promise," Phil agreed.

*

"Well?" Clint asked as he pulled the helmet off. His hair was damp from sweat and stuck to his head, but he was running his fingers through it to mess it up. Phil let himself fantasize for a moment as Natasha joined them.

"Seventieth," Phil answered, forcing himself out of the fantasy and back to the horrible reality.

Clint groaned. "I thought we made up more time than that."

"Well, you didn't," Phil replied, glancing away from them. "You've got one leg left of this round and you have to gain 20 places in order to move on, which frankly seems impossible."

"We could do it," Clint argued, coming to stand next to him. 

"Where are Sam and Steve?" Natasha asked.

"They were looking good, I didn't check for their final standing after this leg."

"Jemma says your sync rate wasn't good." Phil hesitated biting his lip. "Is there friction between you two?" The only thing that had really changed was the start of his and Clint's relationship and that barely started.

"Well, you didn't fuck Clint," Natasha answered.

"He wants to wait, it's sweet," Clint replied.

"Yeah, well, we do better when you've had sex with someone that is not your hand," Natasha said to Clint.

Phil blinked. "You do?"

Clint shrugged as Natasha nodded.

"Phil, I get the whole not wanting to be a distraction thing," Natasha said. "But we're 70th. It's not going to hurt to fuck him now."

Clint looked between them, before sighing. "You know as much as I want that, I also feel that I should object and point out that sex between Phil and I should be between Phil and I."

"Yeah, well, only if it doesn't affect your drifting and it does!"

"That's enough," Phil said as Tones and the other mechanics entered the bay. "I will discuss it with Clint. Any mechanical issues, we need to adjust?"

"Just the piston cylinders needing some lubing to get it really going?" Clint answered with a wide grin, causing Natasha to snicker.

Phil sighed. "Children, both you. Go, shower. I'll have food ready for you."

Natasha turned to walk away, but Clint slipped into his space. "You're going to eat with me right?"

"Yes," Phil promised.

"Good," Clint said, darting in to kiss Phil quickly on the lips. "Missed you in Mourland."

"Missed you too," Phil said, feeling his heat blush. "Now get going, so I can see to my job."

Clint grinned, leaning in to kiss him again, before heading off. "Wasn't serious about the pistons, by the way."

"I figured," Phil called after him. One day, Phil was going to strip that suit off of Clint, but today wasn't that day. The crew was getting to work, but Tones was lingering. 

He smirked as Phil approached him. "Clint and Tasha inviting you to a threesome?"

"No," Phil stated. "They didn't have any concerns, but…"

"She's an old Unit," Tones said. "I'm worried about the old girl holding up for all ten legs."

Phil stiffened at the idea of the DRAGN failing. "Assuming they'll qualify," Phil pointed out.

"Yeah, well, they've done crazier things and Nat's not wrong," Tones said. "I'd rather plan for them to go all ten and have a plan than to make it and have the ship fall apart on us."

"Alright, well, then how come you didn't mention any concerns like this before?"

"Well, we didn't qualify. I thought it was going to be a blessing in disguise as I'd have the DRAGN I've been building ready for the next season. Then we were so busy getting here, I didn't get a chance to talk to you about it. Plus, I've been watching the data feeds for the last two days." He gave Phil an apologetic look.

Phil nodded. He did understand, it had been a crazy time to get them here and getting ready. "Do I need to call Nick?" Maybe they could do a last minute purchase and have a backup prepped. Maybe, the DRAGN Jessica and Luke flew? It wasn't unheard of, but most didn't switch DRAGNs mid-race.

"No," Tones said. "I'll keep her going as long as possible. If we can make it to Mouria then we should be okay. Ratumad would be better."

"What do you need to have the backup ready?" Phil asked.

Tones hesitated. "Send Jemma and Fitz to the factory to finish the pilot suite? I need their knowledge of drifting."

"If they qualify for the next round, I'll send them straight to Ratumad. I need them available to disprove Nataha's theory tomorrow."

Tones smirked. "Phil, haven't you learned, you don't bet against Natasha."

"We'll see, keep me updated," Phil said, waving his datapad to indicate that Tones should send a message. He doubted the other man actually would because he'd prefer to try to embarrass Phil. Tones was an asshole, but to be fair most of the people that made up Iron Hawkspider were assholes.

Phil turned to head out and make sure that the food was ready for when Natasha and Clint descended on the meal. Natasha took her food and disappeared from the room, leaving Phil alone with Clint. 

"You going to eat?" Clint asked, taking a seat. 

"I…"

Clint arched an eyebrow.

"Alright," Phil said. He went and fixed himself a plate and took a seat across from Clint, who was waiting for him. "Thanks for waiting."

"Well, you know, I do kind of like you," Clint gave him a wide grin.

"I'm amazed by how natural this feels for us," Phil said.

"We've known each other for a bit," Clint said. 

"I know, I just never expected it."

"Well, you thought Nat and I were romantic."

"And that you flirted with everyone."

"No, I flirted with you," Clint said leaning in. "Kind of stopped flirting with everyone else."

"I see that now," Phil agreed.

Clint grinned at him.

"I've been staring at your ass whenever I thought I could get away with it, but uh, apparently Nat noticed."

"And now she's trying to get us laid!"

"Is that…?"

"Typical for her?" Clint asked. "We both want this a lot, so she's a bit quicker to the punch. If we weren't here… I think she'd let us move at our own pace, but we're here and really far back in the pack, so she's nervous, stressed, feeling a lot of things, and frankly, she's mad."

"At?"

"Herself, me, the Dragon?"

Phil nodded. "Do you really think it will help?"

"I don't want to have sex with you because I think we'll win. I want to have sex with you because I want to have sex with you."

Phil smiled, ducking his head.

"Yeah, sexy ass Phil," Clint said. "I mean, we haven't talked exclusivity, so… I could go find someone else? Find out if Val brought her strap on?"

Phil looked up and arched an eyebrow. "Seriously?"

"She's bi, but I'm not worthy of her magnificence."

Phil snorted. "Do you prefer…?"

"I like it all," Clint said, leaning back in the chair. He looked off into space as he continued talking "I'm really not picky, but I've thought about you fucking me, me fucking you, blowing you… kind of want to get under your desk and go to town…"

"We could do that, sometime."

Clint's grin was slow and predatory. "Waiting is silly in my mind. I want to because I want you, but only if that's what you want. Consent is hella sexy."

Phil found himself smiling a bit. "I'm not even surprised by that."

"So…?" Clint trailed off.

Phil hesitated. It was basically over unless something happened. "I'm willing to be romanced into it?"

"That's not a yes."

"It's a, 'let's see how the night goes' and 'I'm very interested'." 

Clint considered him, before nodding. "Alright, you're hindering me, we're not supposed to leave the tent."

Phil laughed. "Not going to take too much."

"Good to know," Clint purred. "Eat your meal, Phil, you're going to need the energy."

*

_"Your drift compatibility is horrible," Tones said as Clint climbed out of the Dragon. "Are you two even soulmates?"_

_"It's an old machine," Natasha pointed out._

_"Still," Tones said, crossing his arms from behind the monitors. "Something needs to done."_

_"Like what?" Clint asked, dropping down to stand next to Natasha._

_Tones was quiet, glancing at his two friends that he'd brought in - Pepper and Rhodey. Clint liked them, but it was strange. It'd gone from just Nat and him with the occasional visits with Val to three more people all the time._

_"Listen," Rhodey said. "You two don't act like normal soulmates."_

_"What does that mean?" Clint asked._

_"You're not very physical with one another," Tones answered._

_Clint felt his shoulders stiffen, because he knew they weren't. They were freaks when it came to being soulmates._

_"Maybe we aren't big on PDA," Natasha responded._

_Tones and Rhodey shared a look._

_"Before Tones says something inappropriate," Pepper said. "There's clearly some tension between you two and if you can't communicate outside the drift, well, it's unlikely that you will when it comes to drifting."_

_Clint glanced over at Natasha, because he knew what his issue was. They were soulmates, they should be together and Natasha shut him down at every opportunity. He must have done something wrong, but he didn't know what it was or how to fix it._

_"Communication is important," Rhodey agreed, wrapping an arm around Pepper. "It's how we function."_

_That was the other thing, Clint could see how soulmates were, because Pepper and Rhodey were soulmates. They were just about perfect with one another. He tried to be more like Rhodey in how he treated Natasha, but Natasha did not respond as well as Pepper._

_"See, that's their theory," Tones said. "I think it's because, you're just not fucking."_

_"That's none of your business," Natasha growled as Pepper yelled. "Tones, we talked about this!"_

_Clint shook his head and turned to go remove their armor, carefully, even though he was frustrated, because Natasha didn't like that and he really didn't want her mad at him. Well, madder at him, because she must be._

_"Do you think we need to sleep together?" Natasha's voice came from behind him. Clint jolted and turned to see her leaning on the closed door._

_"I… Tasha, I love you. You're smart, gorgeous, and yes, I want to have sex with you," Clint said. She was his soulmate._

_Natasha glanced away, before looking at him. "Alright, let's get cleaned up."_

_"You can have the shower in our room, I'll take the, uh, shit decon shower," Clint offered. They were renting space in an old warehouse that Val had found. It was giving time for Tones to make adjustments to the Dragon while Clint and Nat worked on flying it._

_Clint hurried up and washed himself up and then went up to the room that Natasha and him shared. He had a feeling that it was more due to the fact that it was expected than any other reason. They'd gotten used to sharing though as it was often cheaper to get a single bed. The shower was still running when Clint entered their room. He sat on the bed and waited._

_It wasn't long before Natasha came in her underwear, blushing slightly._

_"Hey, you look good," Clint said, reaching for her._

_"Thanks," Natasha said._

_"I'm going to kiss you, is that okay?"_

_Natasha nodded and Clint leaned in to kiss her. They'd kissed a few times and this time was slightly different in that Natasha was slightly more responsive. He stroked her back, trying to evoke a reaction, but Natasha simply leaned into the kiss a bit more_

_Clint pulled back and eyed her. "Do you want to do this?"_

_"Clint…" Natasha started._

_"No, do you want to have sex?" Clint asked._

_"I want to win and if this can get us there, then…" Natasha said, looking him in the eye._

_Clint sighed, pulling away. He rubbed a hand through his hair. "Did I do something wrong?"_

_"No, you've been more than patient," Natasha said. "I just… I'm not interested in sex."_

_"Is it me?"_

_"With anyone," Natasha said. "I love you, but honestly, I think of you more like a brother than that. I think I'm asexual?"_

_Clint sat on the bed, studying her. "You don't sound sure?"_

_"Well, I'm not!" Natasha exclaimed. "I'm not right, Clint! I'm messing up our bond, because I don't want you like I should and…" She looked close to tears. Natasha never looked close to tears._

_"Hey," Clint said, getting up and pulling her into a hug. "It's okay, we'll figure it out. Come up with a plan like we always do."_

_Natasha nodded against him, before pulling away. "I'm gonna…" she gestured toward her clothes and Clint nodded, glancing away to give her privacy as she pulled a shirt and shorts on. She sat down next to him on the bed and leaned into his side and Clint wrapped an arm around her._

_"First problem - I would like to have sex sometime in my life," Clint admitted._

_"So have sex," Natasha said. "Just because I don't want it, doesn't mean I'm going to force you to go without."_

_"You sure?" Clint asked._

_"It's an easy solution, Barton," Natasha said, poking him in the side._

_"I like this," Clint said. "Being close to you."_

_"Me too, I just… I didn't want to lead you on," Natasha admitted with a soft sigh._

_Clint nodded and smiled. He really did like that idea. "What's a sponsor going to think, if we're not romantic with one another?"_

_Natasha breathed out a long breath._

_Clint glanced down to see her frowning._

_"I think we need to do some research, see if there are any platonic soulmated pilots out there. I know there are platonic pilots that are compatible, but not if there are any that are soulmates."_

_"Okay, if there aren't any, what do we do?"_

_Natasha was quiet for a moment. "I want to say fake it until they wouldn't dare get rid of us."_

_"That means I have to be discreet with sexy times."_

_"Assuming people are going to want to have sex with you," Natasha teased._

_"Hope would have," Clint pointed out. "And there was another pilot…"_

_"What pilot?" Natasha asked._

_"One of the Grizzly Warthogs," Clint said, carefully not looking at Natasha._

_"Those are both…" Natasha said. "Clint Barton, did you want to have sex with one of the Grizzly Warthogs?"_

_"I only had eyes for you," Clint said. "Because I was hoping…" He trailed off. "Otherwise, I would have definitely taken him up on the offer."_

_"Which one?"_

_"The dark haired one."_

_Natasha nodded. "I guess, he was good looking."_

_Clint chuckled. "Don't hurt yourself."_

_"I mean, it's kind of like looking at painting for me. Yeah, that does look good versus I do not like the look of this one."_

_Clint laughed harder at that. Natasha's head came to rest on his and he rested his head against hers. "I do love you."_

_"I love you too, just not in that way. You're my best friend."_

_"Thanks," Clint said. "Well, what are we going to tell Tones and the others?"_

_"I think we kind of cleared the air. I mean 'sex' was the elephant in the room, right?"_

_"Yeah, thought I upset you."_

_"I would have told you," Natasha said. "I will tell you, if you've pissed me off. I promise. No secrets."_

_"No secrets between us," Clint vowed._

_They sat for a bit, before Natasha got up and pulled away. "Alright, I feel like we should do something to mark this occasion."_

_"Something?" Clint asked._

_Natasha grinned. "Let's at least try and get you laid. We'll go to a club, pretend we're actual sibs, and find someone special to deflower you."_

_"Under one condition," Clint said._

_Natasha arched an eyebrow._

_"You dance with me multiple times."_

_"Two."_

_"Five."_

_"Three."_

_"Five."_

_"You're set on five, aren't you?"_

_"Yes, I am."_

_"Fine!" Natasha threw her hands up in the air. "But I get to choose what you wear."_

_Clint considered for a moment, before nodding in agreement. "Okay, that's fair."_

_Natasha dug through his things and tossed some clothes at him. Clint went to change and waited for Natasha to do the same. Then they were slipping out the back without the others realizing it to have a night of dance._


	5. The Attack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Alright Race Fans, we need to talk about Iron HawkSpider. Number 1 - What a comeback!! I don't think I've seen flying that well in a long time. Now, there's been some accusations made about Barton kidnapping a young woman by the name of Skye, multiple witnesses are placing Barton and Romanoff at the scene. Shield Racing, so far, is refusing to comment on the... *shuffling of papers* SERIOUSLY?! Someone attacked the Shield Racing Tent?!_

_Clint held the door for Natasha to step into the restaurant. It was definitely out of their price range, but then most places were. They splurged on Jasper's breakfast, because it was cheap and portions were big. Jasper had actually recommended other restaurants that were cheap with a lot of food. This place wasn't high end, but mid level. They didn't have to dress to the nines, but had to dress nicely. Thankfully, Pepper and Natasha were close enough that with Clint's tailoring, they were able to not have to spend money on it. Clint was borrowing one of Rhodey's nicer outfits._

_"We're here to meet with a Mr. Phil Coulson," Natasha said to maitre'd._

_"Right this way, Mr. Coulson is waiting for you," maitre'd said, gesturing for them to follow. He guided them through the restaurant to a private room where there was a single table with three chairs. One of the chairs was occupied by a middle-age man with a receding hairline. He rose as they entered._

_"Good evening Mr. Barton, Ms. Romanoff," the man said. "I'm Phil Coulson."_

_"Nice to meet you, Mr. Coulson," Natasha said, extending her hand._

_"Call me Phil." He shook her hand._

_"Then please call me Natasha."_

_"Clint," he said as he extended his hand to shake Phil's._

_"Please take a seat," Phil gestured for them to sit. The maitre'd took their drink orders._

_They sat around the table, glancing over the menus. Clint frowned, noting the ridiculously frilly font choice._

_"Help yourself to whatever you'd like, my treat," Phil said._

_"Thank you," Natasha said, placing a hand on Clint's. "I don't know, a free meal, kind of makes me want to splurge on one of these fancy cuts of steak."_

_"Oh, if you like seafood, I'd suggest doing a surf and turf. We're close enough that most of their seafood is fresh caught," Phil said._

_Clint looked over at Natasha, giving her a questioning look._

_"I don't think you've had lobster or crab," Natasha said, looking back at him._

_"You haven't?" Phil asked._

_"Never could afford it," Clint replied. "Grew up inland."_

_"Whereas I have been to the coast and had more variety," Natasha said, giving Clint a long look. "How about you get steak and shrimp, I'll get the crab legs, and we'll share?"_

_"Sounds like a plan," Clint said with a little nod. Grateful that Natasha was there and able to navigate this better than he was._

_"You just leave it to me, darling, I'll order for you," Natasha said, patting his hand._

_"Thank you," Clint murmured softly._

_Natasha kept her hand there as she set down her menu and took his. They shared a look, before looking over at Phil, who was just setting down his own menu and the waitress came back with their drink and took their order, before exiting._

_"So Phil, you clearly wanted to talk to us," Natasha said. "Why?"_

_Phil's lips quirked upward as he appeared to suppress a smile. "I don't know if you've heard of Shield Racing…"_

_"Owned by Nick Fury, three time winner of the World Championship Race. Well, him and his partner Carol Danvers," Clint rattled off._

_Phil blinked. "Carol actually owns it, too. She's just more involved with the training aspect."_

_"Fury has me in charge of recruitment of a soulmate pair to race for us," Phil explained._

_"And you want us?" Natasha asked._

_"I do, I've been at all of Uthor's regionals and most of the Mourlandic Empire's. You two are the best I've seen by far." Phil explained. "I'm surprised you haven't had any offers yet."_

_Clint glanced over at Natasha, who met his gaze. Apparently, Phil wasn't aware of their less than stellar reputation and their inability to not get involved when they saw an abusive Ensy sickness case. Of course, there was a reason, Rhodey and Pepper had banned them from unsanctioned PIX-E._

_"We're picky," Natasha said as they turned back. "We're not going to work for just anyone. Why should we want to work for Shield?" She squeezed Clint's hand and he glanced over to see her smirk that clearly stated_ Beyond my partner's being a fanboy of the owner _._

_"Well, like most racing we provide a full team. Depending on the race, it'll be a two team rotation. When it comes to World's, we like to run a six team, two full, four skeleton, so that, should something delay a support team's arrival, you are not without support at a location."_

_"You're talking to us about World's?" Clint asked, arching an eyebrow._

_"That's the goal for every pilot I've ever met," Phil stated, glancing at their hands. "Soulmates have the best chance at a World Championship."_

_"Has Shield ever won?" Natasha asked._

_"No, we were close last year until Winter Captain took a hit and one of the pilots lost an arm. He's still working for us by the way. Learning to manage a team."_

_"And his soulmate?" Clint asked._

_"One of the pilots for that team. Apparently, they both agreed, if something should happen to the other that would make them unfit to fly, they'd start the partnering process as soon as possible. Steve got lucky and found a partner on his second trial."_

_"Doesn't that process typically take years?" Clint asked._

_"Typically," Phil agreed. "If it happens at all."_

_"Speak from experience?" Natasha asked._

_"I do, I'm still in the pilot pool, but I haven't flown in years."_

_"No soulmate?" Clint asked._

_"No," Phil said. "And if they had any interest in racing, I think I would have found them by now, so not really interested."_

_Clint's eyes narrowed, because something was off. He glanced over and met Natasha's eyes. She'd picked it up, but wasn't sure what it was. However, it wasn't relevant to the conversation._

_"Enough about me, please tell me about yourselves."_

_"Laupsian," Natasha stated. "Trained in the fairs of the Mourian Continent in IMPs until I met this guy and my trainer put us in PIX-E. When we separated from him, we had the funds to buy an old DRAGN and we came here to compete for a change in scenery. "_

_Phil nodded, before looking at Clint._

_"Pretty much the same thing," Clint said._

_"Any family?" Phil asked._

_"No," they said together, before looking at the other._

_"No blood relatives," Clint added, because as far as he was concerned Barney was a non-entity. It was highly likely that Barney had fucking sold him to Trick and then he would have become an Ensy Sex Doll._

_"Nothing worth claiming," Natasha added._

_Phil studied them, before nodding. "Alright…"_

_"Tell us more about the offer," Natasha asked._

_"Well, payment, housing, repairs to the DRAGN. Bonuses for winning of course, basically a percentage of the pot," Phil explained, going on to discuss everything in detail that would benefit them. Clint let him talk, letting Natasha pay attention. She was better at this stuff than he was and while he tried to follow along, he only ended up getting confused. It was only when Phil started talking about the make up of the support staff that Clint realized that this offer didn't pertain to their team now._

_"What about our team now?" Clint asked, interrupting Phil's spiel._

_"What about them?" Phil asked._

_"Do they get offers?"_

_Phil opened his mouth._

_"Because that team has stood by us through thick and thin. Not to mention they've got part ownership in our DRAGN," Clint stated, because Tones did own part of it. "We wouldn't be here without them. They're practically our family now and if you think we're going to leave them behind, you can take that offer…" Natasha's nails dug into his hand and he went silent._

_"Before my partner says something that loses us such a generous offer, let me just say that I also can't imagine leaving our team behind."_

_Phil was quiet for a moment, eyes darting between Clint and Natasha. "Usually, we interview… original staff when filling the SHIELD staff. Sometimes we hire them, sometimes we don't."_

_"And if we wanted them on our team no matter what?" Natasha asked._

_"You wouldn't be the first," Phil admitted. "I'll have to talk to them to find out what they want and some testing to determine if the position they want, they're qualified for. We can make arrangements."_

_Clint started to object, but a combination of Phil's hand coming up and Natasha squeezing his again made him close his mouth._

_"If Shield finds them unqualified, then then we'll offer lower pay and something akin to apprenticeship and classes. Usually with someone close to retiring, so they're not trying to come between you and your team." He reached down to pull out a notepad and opened it up. "We are getting ahead of ourselves, why don't I get the names and jobs of your people."_

_"Tones - mechanic," Clint stated._

_"Valkyrie, secondary mechanic and parts acquisition," Natasha said._

_Phil arched an eyebrow._

_"She's scavenging," Clint stated, not mentioning that she also knew all the big black market part dealers._

_Phil nodded. "Well, that part of her job won't be as necessary."_

_"Pepper - finance, second spotter, secondary site leader…" Clint glanced at Natasha._

_"Her and Rhodey do a bit of everything, though Rhodey less finance, more managerial and primary site leader," Natasha explained._

_Phil was quiet for a moment, before looking up at them. "That's it?"_

_"Yeah," Clint said._

_Phil glanced down at the list and back up them, mouth opening slightly. "Only four?"_

_Clint nodded once, preparing himself for some mockery._

_"That's impressive," Phil said. "So only two on each site?"_

_"Rhodey and Pepper might hire some locals," Natasha added._

_"Yes, but not an ideal situation. I'm… impressed. You do very well with what most would consider less than minimal staff." He slowly smiled as he looked away. "You should be downright dangerous with full resources."_

_Clint couldn't help but smile at that, and a quick glance showed a smile on Nat's face as well. The waitress appeared carrying a tray and set down their plates. Natasha waited until the waitress left, before they started divvying up the seafood. They dug into their meal with the conversation coming to a standstill. Though Phil waited as Clint took his first bite of crab to ask how it was._

_Clint nodded. "It's okay, I like the shrimp better."_

_Phil chuckled. "You can fight her to get your shrimp back. I'm not getting involved."_

_Clint glanced over at Natasha to see her fierce glare as she popped another piece of shrimp in her mouth. "It's hers now."_

_Phil chuckled._

_They finished eating and Phil offered dessert. Natasha insisted on getting a brownie sundae, but only if Clint would share it with her._

_"Here are the contracts that I'd like for you to look over. I know the races end in two days, do you think you can come to a basic decision by then?"_

_"Day after the final race?" Clint suggested._

_"I can come by the tent to discuss any changes and meet your team?"_

_"Sounds good," Natasha said._

_"Excellent," Phil said. He paused, glancing past them. "Oh, perfect timing."_

_Clint turned to see their waitress carrying two bags._

_"I ordered steak, potatoes, and green beans for your crew. This should reheat easier, since they missed out tonight."_

_"Thank you," Natasha said as they got up, tucking the contract into her purse. Clint took the bags and they headed out of the restaurant. It was only when they were halfway back to the race. "I like him."_

_"But do you trust him?"_

_"I think I could," Natasha said. "What are your thoughts?"_

_"It's like a dream come true," Clint admitted. "But I want Pepper and Tones to look things over, before I make any decisions."_

_"Same," Natasha agreed. "I bet he comes with food."_

_"Seriously?"_

_"It took me a while, but he was at Jasper's the other day." She sighed. "We need to go see Jasper and ask him about Phil Coulson."_

_"Good idea," Clint said. "He's a former racer, too."_

_"You've told me, you adorable fanboy," Natasha said. "Did you recognize the name?"_

_Clint shook his head. "Might have flown during my time with Trick. Jasper was a rookie the year I started with him."_

*

Phil watched the dance routine with a bit more of an appreciation in the way Clint moved. There seemed to be a bit more butt shaking so that Phil could see Clint's. He wondered if it was Natasha or Clint switching it up that way. The music came to an end and the two turned, picking up their helmets and heading to the DRAGN.

They paused as they went past Phil, both winking at him, which was slightly unnerving, but also entirely in character. Clint did it, because he could and Natasha did it, because she knew Clint would and wanted to stay in sync with her partner.

Phil watched as the DRAGN took off and then headed to the shuttle. Phil couldn't do tower work and left it to Melinda and Rhodey as well as Maria and the others. Fury had also provided other tower spotters. They would head to Orgathia, picking up crew along the way from the various towers. Whatever equipment they brought would come with them to Orgathia, and, if they moved on, would continue on their way. 

He was halfway to Orgathia when his datapad chimed with the results. He blinked in surprise as he saw that somehow, amazingly Iron HawkSpider had ended up 49th. He skimmed the article, frowning when he saw mention that a smaller newspaper had stated that Clint Barton had been in a fight and a girl had gone missing under mysterious circumstances. 

"Ward," he muttered. Clint had been right. He'd have to put in a call to Pepper as soon as they were in the Orgathian Tent. One round down, three to go.

*

"No comment," Clint growled as they worked their way through the crowd back into their tent. Phil could hear the irritation in his voice. Clint and Natasha's total time for the first three legs of races was 49th, while they weren't the very last ones, they had just made it into the second three legs. Now their goal was to get into the Top 25. The media had been curious about the team, especially with Ward's story slowly gaining traction and then someone had found video, which clearly showed Clint being aggressive, Natasha snatching the woman, and the following fight.

The team hadn't had much peace since landing in Orgathia. Phil had insisted that they not say anything until after a team meeting, because they needed to figure out how to handle this. He'd even had Daisy shuttled from the B-team with Mack. She was supposed to have gone from Uther to Sigbeorn. 

The doors were closed, thankfully.

"Did you take the woman to have a sex slave?" A reporter asked Clint. Clint's eyes widened and Phil reached out to grab Clint and haul him inside. Natasha was in moments later. 

"Keep moving!" Natasha barked and Phil followed orders to keep moving deeper into the tent. Natasha darted forward to grab Clint's helmet. Phil risked a glance backwards and Clint's expression looked murderous. People caught sight of Clint's look and darted out of the way.

"Gym?" Natasha asked.

One person pointed and there was indeed a room with mats thrown down and a punching bag. Phil pulled them into it and Natasha closed the door.

"What the fuck!" Clint exploded, ripping equipment off himself. "Like I would ever do that?!" 

Phil glanced over to Natasha. 

"Let him wear himself out," Natasha said.

"You're not upset?" Phil asked.

"Of course, I am!" Natasha snapped and looked away. Visibly taking the moment to calm herself. "I just have better ways of dealing…"

"Bullshit!" Clint said, suddenly in her face, stripped down to just pants and leg portions of their suit. "You force it down and then I get to deal with it in the drift!"

"That's true, but I'm also not going to throw a temper tantrum. You know how I feel about damaging equipment. We both know why we took her and from the outside, I see why they asked the question."

Clint turned with an exasperated yell, but he was pulling things off a bit calmer. Still angry.

Natasha began to remove her suit. "Grab the tape, Phil. He's going to need to hit something."

"Will do," Phil said, going to grab it. By the time he'd located it, they were both down to their undersuits. The fabric under the suit, which resembled armor in case of a crash, was skintight and covered them from head to toe, mostly to decrease any sores that came from rubbing. Clint had tugged the shirt off, holding his hands out to Phil. 

"No shirt?" Phil asked as he started wrapping one of his hands.

"Sleeves are bullshit," Clint grunted.

Phil considered as he wrapped. "Maybe if we put a cloth as the interior most layer, we can remove the sleeves for your undersuit." 

Clint blinked. "You can do that?"

"We can try," Phil said. "I'll just have to thoroughly inspect the areas to ensure no sores develop."

"Are you flirting with me now?"

Phil smiled. "Just a bit. It was kind of hot that you kept control of your anger until we were away from the exterior walls and that you didn't destroy any equipment." Well, Phil hoped, but the gloves had been tossed at padding. 

Clint glanced toward Natasha and then back at Phil. "She tell you to say that?"

"You've been here the whole time, did she?" Phil asked.

Clint shook his head.

"Now you're going to spar…

"He's going to punch the bag," Natasha interrupted.

"... and I'll go find Daisy, so we can come up with a plan," Phil continued.

"Don't forget Pepper," Natasha said.

"She's in Bho," Phil said.

Natasha barked a laugh. "No, she'll be here, because this was always a possibility."

Phil eyed her, but he went to step out into the hallway and found Pepper and Daisy waiting for him. Both had coolers in their hands. He shook his head and stepped back to let them both in. Clint glanced over his shoulder and nodded at them and then started punching the bag with Natasha holding it.

"I think our plan of attack," Pepper said, raising her voice over the sounds of punching. "Is going to be determined by how much you want to say."

"Meaning?" Natasha asked, between Clint's punches.

"I know you planned on unveiling the full plan upon a victory, but… you have a platform now," Pepper said. "People are interested in you. You could get your message out."

"And if we don't want to do that just yet?" Clint asked, pausing to speak, before punching again.

"I make a statement," Daisy said. "State that you didn't kidnap me, you saved me, and I signaled you somehow."

"Maybe slipped a note to Valkyrie earlier in the day," Phil said. "That way people won't be looking for that signal."

"Good idea," Natasha said as Clint nodded. "Where are we at?"

Pepper sighed. "We need the winner's pot to be fully funded."

"I could call Fury?" Phil offered

"Fury hates us," Clint reminded.

"He does not, he just… doesn't want to spend more money on you." 

"Right," Clint said. 

"Are you really short on funds?" Phil asked.

"We figure there will be some donations that will roll in," Pepper explained. "But, we don't want to count on that."

"Okay," Phil said. "So… why don't we have Daisy make a statement. If that settles things, then we're good, but if it doesn't then we can have Clint and Natasha make a statement about their end goals. In the meantime, we can see if we can raise the money. I'll call Carol."

"Isn't she…?"

"She doesn't agree with all of Nick's opinions. They're soulmates not mind sharing mates."

Clint huffed a laugh, turning to look at him. "Why do you have to be funny?"

"Because I want you to feel better," Phil replied. "I think Pepper brought you food and I know how hungry you are after a regular race and this was an all day one."

"I did bring food, I thought we would be in there longer," Pepper said.

"Come on, Clint, let's eat and start figuring out what Daisy should say," Natasha encouraged.

"Okay," Clint said. He made his way over to Phil and held out his hands. "Help, please."

"Gladly," Phil said, going to work on removing them. Once they were off, Phil pressed a kiss to Clint's palm and followed him to grab some food. The ladies had laid out a picnic with mostly finger foods so that Pepper could type as they talked.

*

_Clint climbed out of the van and looked around, there didn't seem to be anyone else in the garage. He glanced over his shoulder at Val, who nodded. Opening the back of the transport, he gestured for Natasha to help the kid out. She was young and Clint slung her arm around his shoulders and headed for the door._

_Natasha went through first, checking the hallway to make sure the coast was clear. Val was already up against him, covering their retreat. Natasha reached a door and rapped the coded knock. Rhodey opened it and Natasha, Clint and the girl came in. The door was closed immediately. Val would go back and make sure that the van was clean._

_"She's a little older," Mac noted from his seat. It was technically his room, but he'd stumbled upon their little scheme and wanted in. Then paused. "Whoa, you forgot to duck Barton."_

_"Yeah, yeah, kid still had some fight left in her," Clint agreed, laying the girl on the bed. It was a good sign. Then stepping back to let Natasha check her over. "Is it bad?"_

_"Pretty bad," Mac said. "You're going to have a hard time hiding that. I mean, Mace is oblivious, but not that oblivious."_

_"Did Mace notice anything tonight so far?" Clint asked, referring to their current manager. He usually didn't, but it didn't hurt to double check. It was much easier sneaking around him than it had been with Brand or Hand. Hell, they managed to slip the Pixie out a few nights ago to get enough funds to buy the kid tonight and didn't have to steal like they had others._

_"Nope," Rhodey said holding up his datapad, which showed Mace still in his office. They'd snuck a spy cam in there earlier. Mostly, because they needed to know what he was doing when they were moving the Pixie, but the battery had lasted and it was still useful._

_Clint nodded, which meant that he'd be able to avoid Mace until morning. "Well, if we're going to have a shit manager the oblivious one makes our lives easier."_

_"Eh, he won't fire anyone that sucks up to him though," Mac stated. "Nor will he promote those that tell him his ideas are stupd."_

_"Meaning?" Natasha asked._

_"I disagreed with him and missed out on a promotion to Hammerhead," Mac stated. "Tones gets away with it, because your contract states he stays until you don't want him."_

_"Anything we can do?" Natasha asked, going over to Clint and eyeing him. "You're going to need to sneak in and get some ice for that."_

_Mac shook his head. "Only with a different manager. One that wants to make the pilots happy."_

_"I figured," Clint said to Natasha, before looking at Mac. "Which Mace doesn't. None of them have given a crap about us."_

_"Coulson did," Rhodey said. "He fought for you guys, is still fighting for you guys."_

_"Yeah, but who knows how many other managers Fury has that we have to go through to get him," Natasha said._

_"Win enough that Fury wants to keep you when it comes to contract renewal and demand him back as part of the negotiation," Mac stated._

_Clint glanced over at Natasha, who gave him a small smile. He looked back towards Mac. "That's the plan."_

_"So what's the eye story going to be?" Mac asked._

_Clint glanced over at Natasha. "Night terror?"_

_"I like how I'm the abusive one in this relationship," Natasha said. "And by like, I mean hate."_

_"It's a night terror, you're not to blame. Maybe I stupidly, tried to wake you from it."_

_Natasha sighed, but nodded. "We'll have to go with that, it's quick and easy."_

_"Alright," Mac said. "Mace still in his office?"_

_"Yep," Rhodey said. "You bunking with me?"_

_"I'm not staying here," Mac said, standing up. "I think we should slip out now."_

_"Nat? Clint?" Rhodey asked, glancing at them._

_"I'll take the night watch. Clint can handle the morning," Natasha said. "If anyone questions where I am, I went to sleep with Val, because I smacked Clint good and hard."_

_"Gives you two an excuse to avoid one another," Rhodey agreed. "Natasha is embarrassed and Clint…"_

_"Is also embarrassed, because I'm such a weak, weak man," Clint said, pouting._

_Natasha gently smacked his stomach. "Hardly."_

_"Thank you," Clint murmured. "Text me if you need something."_

_"Will do," Natasha said, taking the datapad from Rhodey. "I've got a book though."_

_Clint kissed her forehead and followed Rhodey and Mac out of the room and upstairs._

*

Phil's eyes shot open at a sound that was out of place in the tent. He listened again, but the only thing he could hear were the soft snores of Clint. His breath came hot against Phil's neck and shoulder blades. Clint had an arm thrown over him and one leg wedged between Phil's. It was so very tempting to fall back asleep, relax into the warmth that Clint was offering, but he realized it was too quiet.

He slid out of the bed, avoiding Clint's searching hands to pull on a pair of pants.

"Phil?" Clint questioned. 

A quick glance, showed that Clint had rolled over onto his stomach into the warm spot left by Phil. Phil could almost think he's sleeping, except for one eye open and watching him.

"Something doesn't feel right, go…" back to sleep is left unsaid, because Clint was already pushing himself up and swinging his legs out. "I was going to come back to bed."

Clint snatched the other pair of pants and pulled it on. "I know, but if there's trouble, I'd rather someone watches that mighty fine back of yours." 

"Flirt," Phil commented. He opened the door and frowned.

"No power," Clint noted, slipping back into the room and returning with a light.

Phil glanced toward the small window. "No storm."

"Better find out," Clint agreed.

Together they made their way down the hall. The barrack area where everyone was assigned rooms were dark and quiet.

"Is it bad that I want to open everyone's door and check on them?" Clint asked.

"No," Phil said. He's not surprised by the thought. Clint's team was truly a family to him. There were two ways into the barracks - one was the stairs that lined the garage where the DRAGN was stored and the other on the far side of the building. They headed toward the DRAGN. The Iron HawkSpider was their moneymaker and this could well be sabotage. Phil let Clint peer through the window.

"Movement," Clint commented.

"Tones?" Phil asked because Tones would probably be the one getting up to fix it if he were awake. 

Clint ducked behind the door. "Oh, that's a gun."

"What?" Phil hissed.

Clint took a deep breath and peered through the window again. "Multiple, their focus is below us.

"The mechanics?" Phil questioned. They were downstairs, so who could they be… 

"Daisy!" Clint growled. "Ward knows she's here after her statement today."

"Shit."

Clint scrambled, attention on the floor, before knocking on a door. In a few seconds, Natasha slipped out the door. 

"We think Ward sent a hit team for Daisy," Clint said. "They cut the power."

Natasha nodded, slipping back in and coming back with a bag. "Communications are jammed. Think you can pop a window."

"Maybe," Clint said, and the pair darted toward Clint's room. 

Phil followed, closing the door, but keeping it open enough that he could monitor the hallway. Occasionally, he would glance to see Clint working at the window and pulling it out. "Do I want to know?"

As Clint worked, he said, "We may have narrowly escaped with our lives and the Pixie once before. Trick wasn't exactly happy that I left."

Phil blinked. "Trick? Your first partner?"

"Yeah," Clint said, pulling the window open. "The nice part of being one of the last ones in this round. We get the shitty digs."

Natasha had pulled the rope out and handed one end to Clint. "Don't drop me."

"I don't think I can replace you with Phil or Kate mid race, so I kind of need you," Clint replied, bracing himself. Phil moved to help him hold the rope.

Natasha climbed out the window and together they slowly lowered her until it was safe enough for Natasha to drop. Clint pulled the rope back up. 

"So we just wait?" Phil asked.

Clint shook his head. "We take the backstairs and get Daisy out."

"What if they have someone one those stairs?" Phil asked.

Clint glanced toward the window. "We could wake Steve, you could drop me down a level. I could go in through one of their windows."

"That doesn't sound safe either."

"Well, the situation isn't safe," Clint snapped and then held up his hands. "Sorry."

"Let's check the stairs," Phil relented.

Clint nodded, going to the door and listening, before opening it and peering out. He motioned for Phil to follow, and they made their way to the other set of stairs. They both paused and listened. Phil frowned as he heard the heavy footsteps of people coming up the back.

"Window?" Phil suggested.

Clint shook his head. "We're going to take one of 'em."

"Are you serious?" Phil asked.

Clint nodded. "You can fuck a guy up with that flashlight. Hit 'em hard." He backed up and crouched low. 

Phil waited until they were right outside the door. He glanced at Clint who nodded, miming pushing hard. Phil nodded and slammed the door open. He knocked one of the goons over from where he'd been setting something up. Phil pushed, trapping the first goon between the door and the wall. Phil continued pushing as Goon One struggled to break free. Then Clint was in the hallway and on Goon Two. He was a flurry of movement, knocking the gun away, and striking where he could until the guy was knocked out. Clint stripped him of the weapons and aimed the gun at Goon One's head. Goon One ceased trying to push past Phil. 

"Take his weapons," Clint stated.

Phil got to work and did as he was told. He removed the guns and was about to question what to do now when Clint spoke up. "Morning Steve."

"Clint, Phil, what the hell is going on?" Steve asked, keeping his voice low as he stepped into the stairwell. 

"We think they're after Daisy," Phil stated. "Can you keep an eye on these two? Natasha is going for help, but we want to get Daisy out."

There were heavier footsteps and Clint turned the gun toward the hallway. Bucky skidded to a halt as he took in the scene. "Okay, you already know we got trouble."

"Why Daisy?" Steve asked.

"She made a statement about Ward today. Ward knows she's here. Dollmakers don't like it when their dolls walk off."

"Speaking from experience Barton?" Bucky asked.

"If this were Bho, I'd think Trick was behind it," Clint replied.

"Get Daisy and however many engineers and techs you can get out on that level," Steve said, picking up a gun, checking it, and handing it to Bucky. "Be careful."

Clint handed over the rifle to Steve to grab a handgun. He checked the number of bullets and then handed it to him.

"You're not…?" Phil questioned as Clint slipped into the hallway to knock on another door. "No, you're going to wake Sam up…"

"Makes sense," Steve said. "Get our people up. Fight back."

Phil nodded and followed Clint down the stairs. The other man had come to a halt by the door. "Clint?"

"They put a device on the door," Clint said.

"Bomb?" Phil asked.

"No, it's small," Clint said. "I think it just tells them if the door opens. A bomb would attract a lot of attention." He turned and looked at Phil with a long look.

"I don't like that idea," Phil said.

"Got a better one?" Clint asked.

"Hey," Sam's hushed whisper came over the rail, and they glanced up. "These guys have comms, and they're asking where they are."

"Fuck," Clint growled. He stood and headed up the stairs. "If I go in that door, they're going to know someone is moving around."

"Leave the door open, so they don't know how many times it opens," Steve said. "Bucky and Sam will go down and cover the stairwell."

"And if they come in the garage stairs, third level?" Clint asked.

"I can watch the door," Pepper said, head popping over the rail. "Give Steve a head's up. Just…"

"Just what?" Clint asked.

"It might be Tones they're after. Get him out, too," Pepper said. 

Clint nodded and waited until they moved into position, before opening the door and wedging it wide open. They then moved down the hallway, knocking on doors, and waking people up. The first exterior window, Clint popped and they set up to get people out. A few of the bigger mechanics that wouldn't fit through the window would stay to hold the rope.

Phil knocked on Daisy's door and it took a few minutes for her to wake up. "Phil, why's it so dark?"

"We're being attacked, we need to get you out," Phil said, ushering her over to the mechanics room.

"What?" Daisy asked.

"We think it's Ward, you need to get out of the building," Phil said. "We've got some of our people outside."

Daisy nodded to the mechanics holding the door. 

"Time to go, Daisy."

Phil slipped back into the hallway and realized that Clint had disappeared. He went down the hall and tried the door for Tones. It was unlocked and he slipped in.

"I'm not…" Tones started and then frowned when he saw Phil. "Where's Pepper?"

"Covering Steve, so they don't sneak up on him on 3," Phil answered. "She thinks they might be after you."

Tones nodded. "Stane saw and heard me, I don't want to run again."

"You don't have to," Clint said.

"Cover Daisy. We think it's Ward and she's the target," Phil added.

Tones glared and slipped out of the room, but he didn't go into the escape room. Instead, he went out into the stairwell. Clint and Phil shared a look but followed him out. 

"This is Stark tech," Tones said, pointing at the door. "Well, Stane tech, since he changed the name. It's Stane."

"Why the hell would Stane want you?" Bucky asked.

"Because I let him think he already killed me. Granted he staged that to look like an accident."

"Tony Stark," Phil whispered.

Tones blinked at him. "Well, that was fast."

"Seriously?" Sam asked.

"Stane took over Stark when Tony died in an accident. There really was only one choice."

"But you put it together so fast," Clint said.

"I.." Phil started and then narrowed his eyes at Clint. "Really?"

"I'm ridiculously attracted to you, I'm sorry," Clint replied and then muttered. "Not that sorry."

"You know," Sam said. "If we move to that third landing, they can't get us. We'll get them on the stairs and that hallway is straight, no cover."

"We hunker there until help comes?" Clint asked.

Sam nodded. 

"Only people that could fit through that window are Pepper and Tony," Clint said, 

"I'm not going out there," Tones said. "Neither will Pepper."

Phil nodded, slipping back into the hallway to bring the mechanics up to the landing so that they could position themselves. The mechanics slipped into the third floor and hauled some bed frames and mattresses out to give them some more cover. They had just completed their little bunker when they heard the sirens blare from outside.

*

_Clint leaned back in the seat, watching the datapad screen of the previous race. Natasha was curled up against him and fast asleep. Clint could feel the urge to fall asleep himself, but the Dora Milaje out of Wakanda Racing had pulled off a stunning move and he wanted to watch it a couple of times. Mostly, he wanted to figure out how it was done._

_"Hey," Coulson's voice said softly._

_Clint glanced up to see him standing in the small aisle. Transports were of various sizes, but this one was a larger one, pulling the Dragon behind it. It was equipped with beds on each side of it for the crew and a larger bed in the back, which is where Clint was with Natasha._

_"Shouldn't you be asleep?" Coulson asked._

_"Trying to figure something out," Clint admitted._

_"What?"_

_"That maneuver that the Dora Milaje pulled off in the third leg," Clint said. "Haven't seen anything like it."_

_"Lemme see," Phil said, extending his hand. Clint handed his datapad over and he watched Coulson's expression in the light of datapad screen._

_Coulson frowned, tapping the screen and the light began playing again. He must have watched the video a couple of times, before handing Clint back the datapad. "It's a combination of maneuvers and combined in a new way. Not surprised, Wakanda Racing is… Well, they're tough."_

_"Yeah, so we got to figure this out if we want to beat them."_

_"Actually, you don't."_

_Clint arched an eyebrow._

_"They don't compete very often," Coulson stated. "Not often enough to qualify for World's, which I believe is your end goal."_

_"Still want to beat them," Clint said._

_Phil grinned. "Or steal their move?"_

_"Maybe," Clint said a bit reluctantly._

_"Lemme think on it, might not be possible with your current mech," Phil said. "The internal compensators might not be able to handle it."_

_"Damn," Clint said. "You're going to make me want a new mech."_

_"You don't?" Phil asked._

_"I… Kind of? I mean, you do realize who that mech belonged to before us, right?"_

_Phil shook his head._

_"That's Marvel, Fury and Danver's."_

_Phil blinked. "You've been racing in a mech that's decades out of date?"_

_Clint nodded. "Tones has been doing the upkeep, I think that's why she's still flying."_

_"No doubt, he's a brilliant mechanic." Phil shook his head. "I thought you guys were amazing before this and now…"_

_"Now?" Clint asked._

_"You all find new ways to impress me," Phil said with a sharp nod._

_"Thanks?"_

_Phil was quiet a moment. "You were watching tape, when I arrived. Do you do that often?"_

_Clint nodded. "We didn't have people to do it for us."_

_"I'd like to sit in on that," Phil said._

_"Sure," Clint said, because that's what they all said and none of them would let Clint work the remote the way he wanted._

_"Think you can make a list of clips to review by dinner tomorrow?" Phil asked._

_"You want me to come with a list of clips?" Clint asked._

_"I think our methods of watching are very different and I'm going to make a list of my own," Phil said. "I want to know things you want to improve on, things I think you need to improve on, and opponents' tricks and tells, and any ideas you might have to counteract those. We'll discuss them."_

_"Discuss?" Clint repeated._

_"I have some knowledge of flying a Dragon, Mr. Barton. I might have an idea that you haven't thought of, just like you or Natasha might have an idea that I haven't thought of. We're a team."_

_"Right," Clint said. "Anything else?"_

_"I think that's a good starting point," Phil stated. "Am I missing anything?"_

_Clint shook his head. "You know your predecessors just told us what to do."_

_Coulson's eyebrow rose. "Do I have a stripe of red in my hair? Is it green? Am I straight? No, because I am not my predecessors."_

_"Not straight?"_

_"Mace and Brand," Phil replied. "I'm Bi, Hand is a lesbian."_

_"Cool," Clint said. "Same."_

_"Same?" Phil repeated._

_"Bi," Clint clarified._

_Phil gave a slow blink and nodded. "You should get some sleep Mr. Barton."_

_"It's Clint, Coulson," Clint stated._

_"Then call me Phil and tell your partner to do so as well," Phil said, turning to leave._

_"Will do," Clint agreed, glancing down to watch Phil's ass. Huh, it was a nice ass. Smiling, Clint decided, he'd have to see if Phil was really all that great as a manager or if he was a stick in the mud like the others. Time would tell._


	6. The Championship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Well, that was a dramatic turn of events! Teams Iron HawkSpider and Shieldfalcon were definitely unharmed based on their recent races. They should be making the next cut and qualify for the third leg. Only twenty-five racers left... *muffled voices* What? AGAIN?! They got hit again?! *sounds of papers being thrown* What the hell is going on?! *long sigh* I've never wanted a World Championship to be over as much as I do this year, so much damn drama this year!_

"And let me add that we're thankful the World Prix has decided to the delay the race by two days, so that we have time to ensure our DRAGNs were not tampered with and give us time to recuperate after our harrowing experience," Steve said to the reporters in a press conference.

Phil stood to one side of him and nodded. Clint and Natasha stood next to him. Sam and Bucky were on the other side of Steve along with Pepper. Steve stepped back and switched places with Pepper. "We will be taking a few questions."

"Yes, why do you think you came under attack?" 

"That's currently under investigation," Pepper stated.

"But you have thoughts, do you think it's related to Pilot Barton's fight with Mr. Ward?"

Pepper glanced at Clint and nodded.

"It's possible," Clint stated. "There are people that intentionally make dolls out of others and will do anything to keep that trade secret. Letting a "soon to be doll" go is not something these doll makers are keen to do."

"Are you accusing Mr. Ward of the attack?"

"No," Clint stated. "Doll makers are organized, and they could simply not like the fact that Daisy's story is in the public and want to shut her up."

"That said," Natasha interrupted. "Many of our team do not exactly have the cleanest of records. It could very well be that someone from our past or one of our team's past decided that they didn't like we had made it to the world stage."

There were a few more questions directed toward Steve and Sam about how they felt that they'd been caught up in this. Neither of them made any comment that would hint that they were upset by the choices of Iron HawkSpider that might have led to this and placed the blame fully on whoever chose to send a hit squad into their shared tent. 

When the questions were finished, they all filed back into the tent. Both mechanic teams were busy at work, going over the DRAGNs to make sure no harm had come to them.

"You've got company in the boardroom," Tones said as they passed by him. "You're all expected to be there, as am I."

Phil nodded and together the group started there, Tones a few minutes behind as he handed off what he was doing to another mechanic. Phil opened the door to the board room

"Well, you like to make life interesting, don't you?" Nick's voice said from a chair that was facing the screens. The screens were replaying the press conference with the talking heads discussing everything."

"Nick," Phil greeted. Normally, he enjoyed a visit from his friend. Today, it was a mixture of feelings and the negative ones were beating out the positive. They all knew how Nick felt about Clint and Natasha. "I thought you weren't joining us until Bho."

"I wasn't," Nick said, turning the chair around to look at them. "Come and sit, but Iron SpiderHawk has garnered a lot of attention and poor Shieldfalcon has been pulled into their wake."

The team went and took a seat with Pepper sitting next to Nick with the other team so that she was across from Phil. When Tones made it in the room, he was able to sit next to Natasha as far away from Nick as he could.

"Tones," Nick said. "Want to explain why Obadiah Stane called me a few days ago and asked about you."

"Because I'm actually Tony Stark," Tones answered. "And this is now the second…"

"Third," Pepper corrected. "He tried one other time, before you went along with it, remember."

"Third time he's tried to have me killed," Tones said. "I laid low, became Braxton Carter, world-class mechanic, saw the potential with Clint and Natasha, and teamed up with them as a one-third partner where I was responsible for maintenance." 

"Anything else?" Fury asked.

"I've started my own company, Force Works," Tones answered. "They're building a new Dragon, since you won't buy my team one."

Fury's frown deepened as he looked over at them. "Do I need to worry about how many doll and doll maker references that were in the press conference?"

"Only if we win," Clint answered. "Then Natasha and I will announce that we are putting our share of the winnings towards freeing sex dolls, providing medical support…"

"New laws to make it harder for them to operate and greater punishments for those who continue to do so," Natasha finished.

"We want in on that!" Steve said, looking at them. "I've talked to Daisy, that whole doll stuff is shit. How can we help?"

Phil ducked his head to hide his smile at Clint and Natasha's surprise. It was Natasha that spoke up. "We'll talk later."

Steve nodded.

Phil looked over at Nick. "I think if either of them win, we're going to be the company that is working to do something about this."

"Phil's got you there, Nick," Carol's familiar voice said. Phil turned to see her just in the doorway. "And honestly, it's a cause worth fighting for. Are you really going to fight this?"

"No, but you're only planning on this, _if_ you win?"

"Yeah," Clint said. "Boost in popularity, plus that will give us the money necessary as a start-up for the charity."

"We could probably get you there now," Nick stated. "Who's got your financials?"

"Pepper," Natasha said.

"Plan A is winning Worlds, but we're not going to hide this through another season," Fury said. "We'll figure out a Plan B, if that's alright with you?"

"Yeah, that's fine," Clint agreed. Phil glanced over to see him blinking in surprise. Even Natasha looked surprised.

Nick looked past them to Tony. "I think we better work out a deal and Shield can reimburse you for partial manufacturing of the new DRAGN."

"You want to make a deal with me?" Tony asked.

"Please, quality has gone downhill, since your supposed death at Stark," Nick replied.

"Plus all his sources say that you were a genius and going to revolutionize something that you put your mind to," Carol added. "He'd be a fool not to get in on the ground level."

"Well, any deals will be contingent on Team Iron HawkSpider staying with Shield," Tony stated.

"That's fine, I was about to offer them an extension on their contract," Nick replied. "You've come further than I thought you would. I was wrong about you two."

There were still a few more details to discuss. Steve, Bucky, and Sam slipped out so that Iron HawkSpider could have the contract extension discussion without them. Then Phil left with Clint and Natasha to let Tony and Nick figure out their deal.

"Do you need to geek out for a bit?" Natasha asked once the doors were closed.

Phil arched an eyebrow at Clint.

Clint shook his head. "No, I'm good, but Nat - Carol Danvers knows who I am."

Phil smiled at the glee in Clint's voice as he said that and the little bounce in his step. He rested his hand on Clint's back. "I don't know about you, but I could use a bit more sleep."

Clint glanced over at him and smiled. "Yeah, me too."

Phil nodded at Natasha as he guided Clint away from her and to their room.

*

"We had to move up the last two slots," Clint stated, pacing a bit as they waited for the final tally to announce their position after the second round. They had been in 27th, but they'd run a clean race between Sigbeorn and Bho. 

Phil glanced over at Natasha, who was ignoring her partner in favor of a book.

"Really Nat?" Clint asked who must have noticed where Phil's attention was.

"Really, Clint, you can whine at Phil now. I get peace," Nat replied, without looking up.

Clint sighed and then draped himself over Phil. Phil dug his hand into Clint's hair and rubbed as he glanced at his datapad, waiting for the update. "This is frustrating."

"Just imagine being in the first heat?" Phil replied.

"Ugh," Clint groaned.

Phil's tablet beeped and Clint's head shot up. "Is that…?"

"Yes," Phil said, opening the message. He skimmed down the list. "You're not 25th or 24th."

"Well, what are we?" Natasha asked.

Phil glanced up to see that her book was closed. "Twenty-second."

"Yeah!" Clint was back up and pumping his arm. Phil watched him for a moment.

"Steve and Sam?" Natasha asked.

"Fifteenth," Phil replied. 

"Awesome," Clint stated with an easy grin. 

"They'll be in the second heat," Natasha noted.

Phil nodded because the place at the end of the round determined what heat a team was in. For this race, first through fifth would run a five man heat with the other two heats being a full ten. 

There was a knock on the door.

"Yeah?" Clint said.

Valkyrie leaned in. "Security caught someone trying to mess with your DRAGN."

"What?" Phil asked, getting up. "Even with the tightened security?"

"He came in with one of the locals, Clint and Nat didn't say _not_ to hire some locals," Valkyrie said. "I'm revoking the guy that vouched for him. He's not getting in again."

"Yes, but you said, he was caught?" Phil asked.

"Yeah, figured you'd want to prosecute him," Val said. "We've got Bhoman security on their way."

Clint's eyes narrowed and he glanced at Natasha. "You don't think...?"

"Only one way to find out," Natasha said, getting up and heading for the door. Clint followed her out and Phil trailed after them. 

There was a one-way mirror and Natasha and Clint were pressed up against it.

"Fuck, it is," Clint stated. "That's fucking Trick."

"Your old partner?" Phil asked, remembering a conversation that he'd been meaning to have with Clint, but wasn't exactly sure how to start. This might be how it starts.

"Yeah," Clint stated. "That asshole."

"I want to punch his face in," Natasha stated.

Phil looked over at his two pilots and decided that yes, he had in fact gotten it wrong. Natasha was not the one that had been saved by the other, but in fact, she had done the saving of Clint. Because while she might feel a desire for violence, she typically did not voice it. Phil gave himself a minute to reorder his thoughts as Clint slipped in to confront his abuser. 

"Is there any other history between you three?" Phil asked.

"Trick burned down our old crew's HQ and tried to kill us a couple of times," Natasha admitted. "We felt that Trick wasn't going to stop coming, so we decided to race in the Delenia."

"And your old crew?"

"I'm not sure if Alexi and the others made it out, but I haven't been on the Mourian continent since then. If any of them made it out, they'll find me during this third round."

"Not in Laupsia?"

"Alexi, Yelena, and I were Laupsian, but we left a long time ago.

"Right," Phil agreed with a nod and winced as Clint slugged Trick in the face and followed up with a punch to the gut. With that he pivoted and walked right back out. 

"Can we claim he did serious damage to lock him up?" Clint asked.

"No," Phil started.

"Yes," Tony said, entering the room. "Because the ship was old and should have been shelved years ago. If the ship were in better shape, the damage done would not have been the death knell that it is now. The new DRAGN is on its way. FitzSimmons are putting the last touches on it en route. Should be here tomorrow morning. Pepper has already cleared you to do a test run with it in the afternoon. She also wants to speak with you, before you do another press conference."

"Do we have to do another press conference?" Clint asked, whining slightly.

"No," Phil said. "I'll do it by myself. First, we'll let the Bhoman arrest him. Then I'll talk to Pepper."

"She wants to know if she needs to come back?" Tony asked.

"No," Phil stated, rolling his eyes. "You are aware that she is my assistant, not the other way around?"

"I'll let her know," Tony replied with a grin.

*

Phil stepped into the entertainment quarters, unsurprised to find Clint and Natasha sitting there watching tape of one of their contenders. Well, Clint was watching, Natasha was reading her book with her feet in Clint's lap. It was a familiar scene, and he knew that Clint would prod Natasha's foot to get her to pay attention, if he wanted to. 

Phil cleared his throat and both looked over at him, before looking back at the screen. "DRAGN is here."

"Should we get ready for our test flight?" Natasha asked.

"In a bit, I did want to talk to you two in private," Phil said, grabbing a chair and pulling it over, so that he could look at both of them easily.

"This doesn't look like a fun talk," Clint grumbled, but the screen turned off. A quick glance at Natasha revealed she had set the book down.

"It may not be," Phil said, taking a seat. "I know the plan regarding Dolls and Dollmakers, but I'm wondering how much information you're willing to share with the public."

"What do you mean?" Natasha asked.

Phil sighed. "You may correct me if I'm wrong, but I feel that one of you saved the other from that fate."

"And you want us to just tell people that?" Clint asked.

Phil looked at him. "No, I want to know what your thoughts are on the subject, especially since Trick is in custody."

Clint stiffened and glanced at Natasha, before looking at Phil. "You think it was me?"

"Not at first," Phil admitted. "But the way you talked the night we were raided and well, I realized I may have put things together backwards. I don't want to force either of you to do anything you don't want to do, but it could come out, so you can confirm or deny or just not say anything. Just know I'll be here ready to listen, when you're ready to talk."

Phil watched as Natasha kicked Clint, and they shared another look. Soulmates weren't telepathic, but Natasha and Clint had been through a lot in their lives and had been together for a long time.

Clint sighed. "I had Ensy with Trick. I…I'm pretty sure my brother fucking sold me."

Phil nodded and took it all in. "Brother?"

Clint met his eyes. "Brother."

"I'm guessing you haven't seen him since… he sold you," Phil said, choosing Clint's own words and wincing at the way it sounded.

"Yep," Clint said, looking away. "Tasha is all the family I need." 

Natasha kicked him again and they shared another look.

"I like having you around though," Clint added.

Phil smiled. "I wasn't offended. The relationship is new. Maybe one day…?"

"I'd like that," Clint said, softly, giving Phil a small smile.

"If you're willing to share more, I'd be willing to listen."

Clint shook his head. "I don't remember much of the time, learned to pilot, but relearned with Alexi and Natasha. She found me."

"He wasn't horrible," Natasha said. "Woke up the next day, cranky. Needed to know that he could walk away, and we wouldn't force him to stay. Alexi had a habit of stealing future dolls." She paused. "I don't… I don't really remember a time before Alexi, but I know he wasn't my father, but I do remember he traveled with a woman for a bit - Mel something. She wasn't my mother. Yelena was one that stuck around. Then we saved Marina. We switched countries when it happened."

"Trick was willing to follow us across borders," Clint grumbled.

"He was," Natasha agreed. "We ran into him a year or two later. I was surprised he recognized Clint, but he did."

"Probably shoulda changed my name," Clint admitted with a shrug.

"But I like Clint," Natasha replied.

"Names don't matter, the person does," Phil said. "Not that I mind your name."

"So…" Natasha said. "Clint woke me up one night, because our HQ was in flames."

"The PIX-E was at another garage, neither Natasha or Alexi could fix it," Clint added.

"Because Fixer was trash and kept giving us cheap parts, so we'd have to take it to him," Natasha grumbled. "We took it and moved to a new continent to save up for a DRAGN, where we met Tones… Tony, Pepper and Rhodey while on the road. Tony would do occasional mechanic work for us."

"Yeah, we came close to getting into a bidding war with him over that DRAGN. Aren't you glad he proposed us teaming up?" Clint said the last part to Natasha.

Natasha chuckled. "It's worked out in our favor."

"All of our favors," Phil agreed with a smile. "I think it would be good to share with the public. It lets people know that it's not just girls, but boys, too. It is entirely your decision though and I will do my best to back it."

"Can I think about it?" Clint asked.

Phil nodded. "You let me know."

Clint pushed himself up and off the couch and walked over to give Phil a kiss. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For being you," Clint said. "C'mon, Nat, Tony will be in here soon enough to get us moving to test the new Dragon."

"Let me finish my chapter," Natasha said, picking up her book. She waited until Clint was out of the door. "Phil."

"Hmm?"

"Nice job getting him to talk about it," Natasha said, sitting up. "He doesn't always like to open up."

"I've noticed. He seems to let people keep their first impressions and assumptions of him, so he can surprise them when they're least expecting it."

Natasha nodded in agreement. "Is it bad I'm nervous?"

"Why would you be?"

"We used a modern drift system once and had horrible compatibility."

"You weren't expecting it, so you didn't have enough time to prepare. You're also older and Fitz Simmons have been updating your system for the last few months. I have faith you'll be successful."

She stood. "Thank you for standing with us."

"I'm sorry I couldn't have been here since the beginning."

Natasha smiled and as she passed she leaned in and kissed his forehead. "I'm glad you're here now."

Phil smiled, enjoying the moment for a second. Then went to handle some paperwork to the beat of the music. When it came to end, he headed out to the garage and headed over to where Fitz was. 

"Simmons, seeing them in?" Phil asked.

"Yep," Fitz said and pressed a button. "Comm check."

"I can hear you," Natasha said.

"It sure is fancy in here," Clint added. 

The comms picked up Natasha's huff of amusement. "Simmons says everything looks good, but if you could please wait for her to get down there, before initiating neural handshake, she would appreciate it."

"Will do," Fitz said.

Phil glanced around to see that the engineers had gathered and even Nick was at the top of the stairs. Carol had moved to travel with the B-team, so that one owner was also in the rotation of managers. It seemed everyone wanted to watch the initial flight. 

"What are we waiting for?" Tony said, coming up behind Phil.

"Simmons," Phil said, pointing to her as she hurried over to get into place.

"Alright, I'm here," Simmons said. "Natasha, Clint, are you ready for the neural handshake?"

"Yes," both said at the same time.

"Initiating neural handshake," Simmons said. "In 3... 2… 1…"

"Oh my gosh!" Fitz exclaimed after a few moments. "Look at those numbers, I haven't seen numbers that high!"

"Neural handshake looks amazing," Simmons said into the comms. 

"We clear to take off?" Natasha asked.

"Go right ahead," Fitz said.

The DRAGN slipped out and up. The test was only for two hours, but all systems looked good. No flaws, no anything. At some point, Nick had come down to watch the screens. 

"The second one is going to end up costing me, isn't it?" Nick said to Tony as Clint and Natasha were on their way back.

"Did you want a second one?" Tony asked, smugly.

"I've had good experiences with Stark Mechs. Won three worlds in one of your father's," Nick admitted.

"I know," Tony said with a nod. 

"I'm feeling really good about our chances," Phil said, looking over at them.

"With those numbers," Nick said, indicating the neural handshake. "They should be unbeatable."

*

"There's no way that we didn't qualify," Clint said as he clambered down out of the DRAGN.

Phil wished that he could share in their exuberance, but well, he had a few reasons not to be as happy right now. 

"Why don't you look happy," Natasha said as she came down behind Clint.

Clint paused, taking a closer look at Phil. "She's right."

"I have people here claiming to know you."

"Who?" Natasha asked.

"You want the good one or the bad one?" Phil asked.

That earned him a shared look between the soulmates. "Bad," they said together.

"Barney Barton, claims to be your brother. ID checks out, provided you're from Nuban," Phil said, looking over at Clint.

"Motherfucker," Clint growled.

Phil held up a hand. "He's brought you an absurdly large gift basket filled with Nuban goods and said that if you don't want to see him, he'll leave."

Natasha made a slight face.

"I will also have his contact information should you change your mind," Phil added.

"Send him on his way," Clint stated.

"Will do," Phil said. 

"And the good one?"

"Someone claiming to be Alexi," Phil said. "He mentioned a Yelena and a Marina. I'm not sure how many people you've told about them."

"Not many," Natasha said, looking at Clint, who nodded. "We'll meet with him, but we'll be careful."

"Thank you," Phil said. "If you'll follow me."

He escorted them to the room where Alexi was waiting and let them enter. Natasha stared at the older man, and they spoke in rapid fire Laupsian, before hugging. They shifted to drag Clint in.

Phil left them alone and headed into the other room, where Barney was sitting. Barney nodded when he saw him come in. "He doesn't want to see me, does he?"

"No, as I suspected," Phil said.

"I wrote my contact information down for you," Barney said. "Just in case he changes his mind, and a letter. Um, if you can hold onto it until he mentions he's thinking about it, so he doesn't burn it in a fit of pique."

"I wouldn't blame him, if he did," Phil replied.

Barney heaved a heavy sigh. "I was a stupid kid, suddenly in charge of kid brother that only wanted to fly. He offered to take Clint's bottomless pit of a stomach and give him a chance to fly while also giving me some money. I didn't realize what I had done until years later. I'm glad he's okay."

"If either of them asks, I'll convey that to them." Phil's tablet beeped and he glanced at it.

"Results?" Barney asked. 

Phil nodded. "I need to see you out."

Barney stood and walked him out. "They've got another leg before the next cut, right? Racing was never my thing."

"One more," Phil agreed.

Barney nodded. "Do they have any merch, ‘cause I'd take a poster or something."

"I'll speak to my boss about it," Phil said.

Barney nodded. "Make sure some of it makes it to Nuban. Been awhile since we had anything to be proud about."

Phil nodded and Barney walked away, glancing back, but eventually disappearing into the crowd. Phil took a deep breath and headed back in. He collected Barney's note and information, tucking them away within his own personal effects, before going to see how the others were doing. The three were all seated and talking when Phil leaned in. He cleared his throat to get their attention.

"I'm sorry, Alexi, I know what my pilots usually eat, but I was wondering what I could get you?" Phil asked.

Alexi blinked. "Whatever they're having, no need to go to any trouble for me."

"Of course," Phil said. He glanced at Natasha and Clint and was greeted by smiling faces. "Good news?"

"They're not flying anymore, but they survived," Natasha said. "They all survived."

Phil nodded. "Glad to hear it. I'll leave you be then."

"You could join us," Clint offered.

"I might when the food comes, but I want to make sure of a few things first," Phil said.

"Did he…?" Clint asked.

"He left with no problems and asked when he could purchase some Iron HawkSpider merch in Nuban."

Clint snorted and rolled his eyes, clearly not believing the genuineness of his brother's question. Phil could understand why, but Barney's disappointment was obvious. There was no way that Phil was going to force the issue, so he'd hold onto Barney's messages until Clint was ready for them, if he was ever ready for them. The duo clearly didn't need him now, so he slipped out of the room and went to make sure security was on the ball. Barney was not allowed back in, and he wanted to make sure that was clear to them. While Barney's motivation to see his brother again had seemed to be pure, at least to Phi, Phil wasn't going to risk his pilots mental or physical well-being on his gut. Be prepared for the worst, Phil thought, because this year they seemed to be running into it.

*

Phil stood with twenty-four other team managers as they waited for the final leg announcements. Fifteen teams would be cut. There would be one leg left and it would follow the Laupsian coastline until cutting inward to land at Nest Island in the Salt Lake. They had finished the Eighth Leg in 12th place, two places out.

"Think they did it?" Bucky asked, representing Shieldfalcon.

Phil shrugged. "I feel good about them. You?"

Bucky sighed and shook his head. "Don't think so. They were pretty far back. Harder to pull off the bigger jumps late in the race."

"They did good for non-soulmates," Phil pointed out.

"They did," Bucky agreed.

Three tones went off, signalling the announcements of the top ten teams. All were displayed on the giant screens in the room.

"Ugh, those assholes," Bucky stated as Bone Strike from Hydra Racing piloted by Rumlow and Rollins were announced first.

"They've been in the top ten this whole time," Phil said, he was frankly unsurprised by it. The top four were not a surprise, they'd been in the lead the whole time.

When the fifth team's picture was up, Phil blinked because those pilots looked an awful lot like Clint and Natasha. In fact, it read Iron HawkSpider and Bucky was grabbing his arm.

"Phil!" Bucky said.

"They're in fifth?!" Phil exclaimed. He almost didn't believe it, but there it was. 

They waited until the last five racers were announced. Bucky sighed. "They did good overall."

"Well, you're being drafted into Team Iron Spiderhawk," Phil said, looking at Bucky.

"I am?" Bucky asked. 

Phil nodded. "I want you at Tower Three, Maria at Two, Rhodey at One and I'll take Tower Four."

"Alright," Bucky nodded. "I have to let the mechanics know they can pack up as well as the other staff."

"Yep, I'll meet you at the trailer to head out," Phil said, taking a deep breath. One more leg and fifth was not a bad spot to start from. Phil headed out to let his team know the good news. The starts were staggered so that if a team needed to make up a minute, they would start a minute behind the leader. Clint and Natasha were only a few minutes behind first place and could easily make up the time. They could do this.

*

Phil took the elevator up to the top of the tower. The sun was just rising over Laupsia and soon the DRAGNs would be flying from Caiunum. Below this tower was a small building that allowed them to sleep here last night. Most of the managers were still down there, but Phil wanted to listen to the whole race. They'd gone from 100th to 5th, it was an amazing ride, and there was a chance to win. 

Phil took the seat and glanced at the empty space next to him. He missed Bucky already, used to sharing the space with the other Shield manager. He set the comms to his assigned frequency and entered their encryption. 

The booth was filled with voices as they went through the start up and check. 

Phil tapped the on button for his microphone. "This is Coulson, checking online."

"Little early boss, we won't be near you for like six hours," Clint replied.

"Eight hours," Phil corrected. "Course is supposed to take ten hours and I'm at the last tower."

"Yeah, you sent us the assignments," Natasha said.

"Don't want to give you any surprises," Phil said.

"We appreciate that," Clint said.

"We're ready to initiate neural handshake," Simmons said, cutting them off. 

"We're ready," Clint and Natasha said at the same time. 

Phil started pulling up the data and soon had it displayed in front of him as well as feeds from the race. He'd have hours to wait before he took over, but he couldn't imagine waiting without the data. 

"Neural handshake complete," Fitz announced. "Looking strong."

"Remember to watch out for the Hydra teams," Phil stated

"Yeah, I remember," Clint said. "I know what to look for."

Phil smiled at Clint's tone. He was the one that spotted the telltale move when they were about to try something and had figured out a way around it. To others it sounded disrespectful, but Phil knew that wasn't the case. It was an acknowledgment and confirmation that he still recalled the information. 

The first team took off to the Caiunu fanfare with the second team going a few seconds later followed by third and fourth and then Iron HawkSpider was in the air. 

Phil hadn't realized how nervous he was until now. So much was riding on this race and the near future. He wanted Clint and Natasha to reveal their ideas on how to prevent dolls and stop the dollmakers. He wanted to be there and support Clint through it all. It was going to be a busy off-season, but Phil knew he was going to make time to continue to grow his relationship with Clint. He'd have to find a few things to do with Natasha as he didn't want to steal Clint from her. He needed to make sure their friendship was strong as well.

Two hours in and Rhodey came on. "I think you've got room to make a move."

"Copy," Natasha said.

Phil looked at the screen to see Iron HawkSpider pass Silver Shadow and move into fourth place. They made another move fifteen minutes from Maria's tower to move into third place. Then they were chasing Green Tiger and slowly narrowing the gap. 

"Bucky," Clint called. "You see a way for us to slip past this guy?"

"That ship is more maneuverable, right?"

"Yep," Natasha answered.

"Fake up and then go low," Bucky replied.

"Attempting," Clint said. 

Phil watched as the DRAGN darted up and when it slipped up, Iron Spiderhawk dropped and then put on a burst of speed to slip underneath the Green Tiger. Phil pumped his arm, completely proud of his team. There was only the Hydra team left.

"Nice work," Bucky said, about an hour later. "Coulson, you still there?"

"I am," Phil said.

"Ready to take over?"

"Confirmed."

"Iron Spiderhawk, you're in Coulson's hands."

"That's a good place to be," Clint said as Natasha said. "He really likes Coulson's hands."

"Focus on the race," Phil warned, though he couldn't help but smirk. "You've got one more DRAGN to pass."

"And arguably the hardest," Clint said.

"And most dangerous," Natasha added.

"Good, we all know how serious this is," Phil stated. "Now catch up to them, while I figure out how to get by them."

"Yes, sir," they said.

Phil smiled and started pulling up old videos of them to see what had worked before. Towers for the Worlds had the best towers with the best tech. They were the only ones where Phil could watch a bit of video during a race. His attention darted between the various screens.

"Coulson," Clint said, a few minutes later. "Their crash trap…"

"It leaves them open for passing," Natasha said.

Phil hummed. "That's assuming they'll attempt it."

"They don't like Shield," Clint reminded him.

Phil sighed. "You're sure you can spot it."

"Yes," Clint agreed. 

"Bait 'em," Phil said, trusting his team. "I've got a second option, if you haven't passed prior to the tower and are close enough."

"Oh?" Natasha asked.

"Need to cut closer to the tower, they tend to go outside as they go around it," Phil explained.

"Understood," Clint said.

Phil watched as they slowly gained on Hydra's Bone Strike and Phil closed his eyes as they got within range. He couldn't help but worry about his team. Hydra had taken out so many of their pilots.

"Ha!" Natasha said.

Phil opened his eyes to see them ahead of Bone Strike.

"Nice work!" Phil said and set to keeping track of where Bone Strike was to help Iron Spiderhawk stay in the lead.

*

Phil entered the winner's tent to find the celebration still going on. He watched the unbridled joy on Clint and Natasha's face as they talked with Tony and Val. Clint glanced at the door and his smile somehow widened when he saw Phil. The man left the group and raced toward Phil. They impacted as Clint practically tackled him in a rush to hug him.

"We won!" Clint crowed into his ear. 

"I know!" Phil agreed with a laugh. He wrapped his arms around Clint. "Congratulations."

He was pulled into the group with Clint hanging off of him. He pulled away to give Natasha a hug and congratulate her. As soon as Natasha released him, Clint was back on him. A drink was pressed into his hand.

"Did you hear the other good news?" Tony asked.

"What other good news?" Phil asked.

"That strike team fingered Stane, and the Laupsians arrested him and handed him over to the Orgathians," Tony said. "I think I can take control of Stane Industries if I come back to life." 

"Excellent," Phil said, raising his glance and taking a sip. "Is that where Pepper is?"

Tony nodded. "Also getting the key players in for the announcement of the Spiderhawk Ensy Treatments Centers."

"I thought we agreed on just Ensy Treatment Centers?" Natasha said.

Tony sniffed. "I think you should put your names on it."

"Then it would be the Barton-Romanoff Ensy Treatment Centers."

"BRETC," Phil said, attempting the acronym and shaking his head. "That doesn't work."

"The Foundation is going to have our name on it," Natasha said.

"Foundation?" Phil repeated.

Clint nodded. "The Barton-Romanoff Foundation for the Prohibition of Dollmaking."

"Very professional," Phil agreed.

"Yeah, well, we're not done by a long shot," Clint stated. "One down, three to go."

"Three?" Phil repeated.

"Yeah," Clint said, looking across the room. Phil followed his gaze to where Nick and Carol were talking to a few people. "I wanna beat their record."

"I wanna double it," Natasha said. "He doubted us."

"He gave us shit managers," Clint agreed, tugging Phil closer. 

Phil chuckled, feeling slightly uncomfortable. He looked at Tony. "Do I need to find a new Head Mechanic?"

"No, you have. Mac will do amazing there," Tony said. "And I'll be available for consultations." 

"Free for us though?" Clint asked.

"Definitely," Tony said. "Team Iron HawkSpider all the way."

"I'll drink to that," Phil said, lifting his glass. 

"Me too," Clint said, adding his drink.

"Same," Natasha said. They clinked their drinks and took a sip. The future was looking bright.

**Author's Note:**

> Here's a [link to the map that I forgot to share. ](https://uofmdragon.tumblr.com/post/631821079774642176/for-those-those-of-that-are-curious-heres-the)


End file.
